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Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 11, 2002

Northern fur seal

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Kita-ottosei * Scientific name: Callorhinus ursinus * Description: Fur seals have bodies streamlined for life in the sea. They have four limbs (unlike dolphins and whales, which have only two), but the arm and leg bones are relatively short and are contained within the body. The hand...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jan 10, 2002

Plants for all seasons bring us midwinter cheer

By Gerard Taaffe

Little by little the days are starting to get longer, though with spring still a long way off this is a good time to do some armchair gardening. Whether you browse through gardening books or magazines, or search the Internet for your reading material, without stirring from your armchair there's plenty...

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Jan 10, 2002

Eco-tour program puts priority on people

By Stephen Hesse

First of two parts Stefan Ottomanski is a rare educator: He thrives on uncertainty and views obstacles as opportunities to teach both his students and himself lessons that were never part of the curriculum.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 4, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Akaushiabu * Scientific name: Tabanus chrysurus * Decription: This is a stout-bodied insect with huge, iridescent compound eyes (the eyes touch in the center in males but are separated in females). They have one pair of wings and are strong fliers, able to cover long distances. The...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 3, 2002

Why do birds of a feather tend to flock together?

By Mark Brazil

"Flocks" read the sign outside the onsen, or so I thought. My bird brain immediately clicked into "Hey, an onsen for birders." But why in remote Higashi Mokoto, Hokkaido? Surely it wasn't "Frocks?" A women-only onsen? But no, men were most definitely welcome. So what, I asked, did "flocks" mean?

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 28, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Nihon zairaiba * Scientific name: Equus caballus * Description: Hoofed animal that bears its weight on its central third toe. Its family, called the perissodactyls, also includes tapirs and rhinos. The first horse ancestor was doggish and dog-sized, with four toes on the front foot....

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Dec 27, 2001

Berries to bring cheer at the turn of the year

By Gerard Taaffe

The festive season is in full swing, and though it's cold outside in the parks and gardens there are still plants that bring joy to our hearts -- few more so than the nanten (Nandinia domestica) with their profusion of attractive bright-red berries at this time of year.

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Dec 27, 2001

Resolve to raise a toast to thinking globally

By Stephen Hesse

With only days to go before 2002, New Year's resolutions are in order -- in theory, anyway. Whatever we promise, one thing is certain: Resolutions, viewed from this side of Jan. 1, are always made with the best of intentions.

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 21, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Ari-gumo * Scientific name: Myrmarachne japonica * Description: This spider looks like an ant, but it is an arachnid, not an insect. You can tell because it has eight legs. The ant spider mimics ants, and sometimes flutters its forelegs like the antennae of ants, because it has no...

ENVIRONMENT

Dec 20, 2001

Concern over threat to rare blue corals

By Amanda Suutari

Ancient and complex, the rare blue coral reef of Shiraho, Ishigaki Island -- part of the Ryukyu island chain, Japan's southernmost -- is one of the world's biggest and perhaps oldest blue coral reefs. Though only 3 km long, it contains at least two-thirds the number of species of Australia's 2,000-km...

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Dec 20, 2001

People may fear it, but many trees thrive on fire

By Mark Brazil

In the melange of pagan midwinter mythology and religion that we now call "Christmas," trees, particularly evergreens, have come to occupy a prominent place in the festivities. In times gone by, mistletoe and holly were most common, but since the 17th century the Christmas tree has typically been some...

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 14, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Nihon Tsukinowa-guma * Scientific name: Ursus thibetanus japonicus * Description: This is the largest animal in Japan, apart from the Hokkaido brown bear, 110-130 cm tall when standing upright. Also called the Asiatic bear or Japanese black bear, the moon bear gets its Japanese name...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.

The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan

By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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

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