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ENVIRONMENT

Dec 9, 2001

Waste disposal: Not just a load of rubbish

By Mick Corliss

If extreme global warming is the headline-making environmental disaster on the world's horizon, then waste disposal is its ugly domestic step-sister that's already here.

ENVIRONMENT

Dec 9, 2001

Sustainability begins at home

By Asako Murakami

OSAKA -- As an official of the Yasu Town Government in Shiga Prefecture, Yoshitaka Endo knew it would be easy to draw up a plan of action for improving the local environment. But from experience, he also knew such a plan would not work unless the townspeople viewed it as their own. So he called on local...

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 7, 2001

Black mountain ant

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name:Kuroyama-ari * Scientific name:Formica japonica * Description: Like all ants, the black mountain ant has three clearly defined body parts: a capsulelike head with strong jaws; a thorax to which the three pairs of legs are joined; and an abdomen. There are also three different types,...

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Dec 6, 2001

Nature allows for few winners in the face of fire

By Mark Brazil

Fire! It's a word that strikes terror. Images of leaping, roaring, scorching flames spring to mind; images of billowing smoke and suffocating fumes; of people and other creatures great and small fleeing for their lives.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 30, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Hitosujishimaka * Scientific name: Aedes albopictus * Description: A small, soft-bodied insect, the tiger mosquito is instantly recognizable by the black-and-white bands on its legs, and the distinctive white "racing stripe" on its black thorax. The antennae are tufted and are shorter...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Nov 29, 2001

Where's the best bloomin' desert in the world?

By Gerard Taaffe

Huntington Botanic Gardens is magnificent. Comprising no fewer than 15 specialized gardens set on 54 hectares of the 86-hectare San Marino estate a mere 20 km northeast of downtown Los Angeles, it is home to an astonishing 14,000-plus species of plants.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 23, 2001

Forest cockroach

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Morichabane gokiburi * Scientific name: Blattella nipponica * Description: These sleek insects are 11-14 mm long, with two pairs of wings. Adults are brown, although when they change from a nymph into an adult, the body is white, as in the photo. During the transformation, the wings...

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Nov 22, 2001

Alien killers revel in 'cute pet' role

By Mark Brazil

As a family, cats have successfully colonized the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, with only Australia among the larger landmasses lacking native species. They range in size from the immense Siberian tiger to the diminutive black-footed cat of southern Africa, and take an equally diverse range of prey....

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Nov 22, 2001

Singing the praises of glorious mud flats

By Stephen Hesse

How's this for a writer with a bee in his shorts?: "Upon ratifying the Ramsar Convention, Japan agreed to 'promote the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves in wetlands . . . and providing adequately for their wardening' [Article 4]. So far, Japan has made no effort to...

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 16, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Kusagikamemushi * Scientific name: Halyomorpha halys * Description: Most people call all insects "bugs," but strictly speaking, only one order of insect, those with piercing mouthparts, are true bugs -- the stink bug is one of them. It belongs to a family called shieldbugs, because...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Nov 15, 2001

Travel the world in a tree-lover's heaven

By Gerard Taaffe

When I arrived at Los Angeles airport in June, my friend Joan Juenemann was there to meet me. My stay in California was to be only three days, but Joan had kindly prepared an itinerary taking in one garden with its own unique character each day.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 9, 2001

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Aburamushi * Scientific name: Aphididae * Description: Aphids are small, green insects that grow 1-6 mm long. They have soft, oval-shaped bodies, sometimes with wings and sometimes without. They have long, tubular mouths, like drinking straws. There are more than 600 species of aphid...

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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