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Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Apr 5, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Shojobae * Scientific name: Drosophila melanogaster * Description: This is a tiny (3-mm) fly, with red eyes and one pair of wings. It is almost too small to notice, yet the fruit fly is one of the world's most important organisms. Study of the fruit fly led directly to the science...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Apr 4, 2002

'Park on a possum' is far easier said than done

By Mark Brazil

Back in 1848, some bright spark had a "good" idea. Let's import common brush-tailed possums from Australia and fur-farm them in New Zealand, they thought. They followed up on that idea with action -- action that New Zealand's environment has been paying for ever since.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Mar 29, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Aka mimizu * Scientific name: Lumricus rubellus * Description: An earthworm's body consists of a tube within a tube. The inner tube is a digestive tract, the outer is segmented and muscular. Between the two are reproductive organs, and running the length of the body is a simple nervous...

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Mar 28, 2002

Insights from alumni are just one perk of the job

By Stephen Hesse

As a university professor, March ought to be a pleasure. There are no classes and few meetings. It is, though, a bittersweet month. Students who have become an integral part of the fabric and rhythm of my life are graduating. Most of the names and faces will fade, but many will be remembered, and a few...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Mar 28, 2002

Zen gardens wondrous to behold, and not

By Gerard Taaffe

I like nothing better than to go and explore gardens and to let my imagination ponder on what's to be seen. Kyoto has plenty of places just waiting to be discovered, and the best way to go and see its gardens and temples is either on foot or by local bus.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Mar 22, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Nihon mitsubachi * Scientific name: Apis cerana * Description: Asian hive bees are social insects. Hairy and bullet-shaped, they have well-developed tongues and back legs with special hairs that mesh together to form a flexible basket for carrying pollen. Bees are very strong and are...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Mar 21, 2002

Confused responses cloud vital issues of ecology

By Mark Brazil

Sept. 11, 2001, a date now etched indelibly in our memories, provided an awfully pertinent lesson in human actions and human responses. Shock, fury, anger; all were reasonable, acceptable emotional responses to horrendous acts of terrorism.

ENVIRONMENT

Mar 21, 2002

Blooms tell curious tale of two cities

By Mimi Le Bourgeois

Ninet years ago, on March 27, 1912, passersby on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. may have been surprised to see two elegant ladies digging holes. They may have been even more surprised had they known that the women were Helen Taft, wife of U.S. President William Howard Taft,...

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Mar 15, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Kayanezumi * Scientific name: Micromys minutus * Description: This is Japan's smallest mouse, growing 5-8 cm long and weighing only 5 grams. Harvest mice have long, prehensile tails which they use for gripping the stems of grass when climbing. They have stubby noses and hairy ears;...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Mar 14, 2002

Garden jewels in the Tofukuji Temple crown

By Gerard Taaffe

Tofukuji Temple is one of Kyoto's most magnificent jewels and is one of the city's 17 UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites.

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Mar 14, 2002

You win some and you lose some . . .

By Stephen Hesse

Ten years ago, on March 12, 1992, this column began its life on these pages. Though it's still "green," when compared with colleagues who have graced The Japan Times for several decades, Our Planet Earth has now appeared more than 245 times.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Mar 8, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

Japanese name: Nihon-anaguma Scientific name: Meles meles anakuma * Description: Badgers are stout, bearlike animals. Body length of males is 56-68 cm, females 52-59 cm. They have short limbs and tails, but the characteristic feature of badgers are the black stripes on the face. These usually run from...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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