Search - environment

 
 
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 20, 2014

Earth's ozone layer on track to recover

There are signs that the Earth's protective ozone layer is recovering due to the regulation of ozone-damaging gases, according to a new report jointly released by the U.N. Environment Program and World Meteorological Organization on Sept. 10.
EDITORIALS
Oct 14, 2014

A shift in defense posture

A Japan-U.S. interim report proposes that geographical restrictions on the activities of the Self-Defense Forces in support of U.S. military operations be removed as part of a tremendous shift in Japan's defense posture.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2014

Aiding more Minamata victims

Japan's government has restarted the process of officially recognizing more sufferers of Minamata disease — discovered decades ago to be the result of eating mercury-contaminated fish — under a new guideline that the Environment Agency adopted in March.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2014

RBMA co-founder hopes to support Japan's neglected artists

The Japan Times spoke to Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) co-founder Many Ameri from New York, the site of last year's academy, and now home to an annual Red Bull music festival. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Oct 6, 2014

Range of services rush to fill gaps in Japan's after-school care market

As the government moves to widen access for older children, the private sector offers flexibility and a focus on areas such as English and sports.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 6, 2014

Car sharing: A cheaper alternative to owning a car in the city

Owning a car in Japan can be a hassle if you live in a city because it often comes with the extra cost of renting a parking space.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 6, 2014

Experts see high risk Ebola will reach U.K. and France soon

Scientists have used Ebola disease spread patterns and airline traffic data to predict a 75 percent chance the virus could be imported to France by Oct. 24, and a 50 percent chance it could hit Britain by that date.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 22, 2014

Melbourne found most livable city

Melbourne tops the ranking as the world's most pleasant city to live in for the fourth year running, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit poll.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Sep 14, 2014

All-Japanese families take a chance on international schools

In a notoriously homogeneous society where parents can face criticism for going against the grain, what drives these parents to shun local schools and instead seek out what the education ministry calls 'foreigner schools'?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 8, 2014

How vulnerable is Japan to severe weather?

The deadly mudslides in Hiroshima and other parts of western Japan last month caused by torrential rains have raised concerns about how vulnerable Japan is to such natural disasters, especially given severe weather events due to climate change.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 6, 2014

Yoshio Taniguchi: thriving in the shadow of greatness

Architect Yoshio Taniguchi generally doesn't like having his photograph taken for use in the media. In a way, it's a logical extension of his approach to his work, which could be described as architecture by subtraction. Having painstakingly removed everything extraneous from a design, and having overseen...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 27, 2014

On this island, depopulation isn't the problem — inertia is

There is one thing most people don't realize about this island paradise amid the Seto Inland Sea: that despite many people wanting to move here, none of them can.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 24, 2014

Japan's universities can't win

In view of the disparity in professors' pay between Japanese and American universities, the notion of elevating Japanese universities' global rankings simply by bringing in outstanding 'foreign talent' as instructors and researchers is a castle in the sky.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Aug 20, 2014

A high price to pay for a little peace of mind

Sometimes it's hard to believe the American that emerged, naked and naive, from Narita International Airport back in 2004 and the person writing this column are one and the same. Life in Japan has made me, unmade me and remade me. I've unpacked and sorted through all sorts of koto (generally, things...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2014

Brazil presidential candidate Campos reported dead in plane crash

Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died Wednesday in an airplane crash in the southeastern city of Santos, Globo News and Folha de S. Paulo reported. He was 49.
WORLD
Jul 10, 2014

China plans steps to promote judicial independence, Xinhua says

China will act to promote judicial independence over the next five years with measures including specialized tribunals for environment and intellectual property cases, state media reported Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2014

Not a solution for mental patients

The health and welfare ministry's plan to renovate some wards of mental hospitals into residences to reduce the official number of long-term in-patients will only prolong the 'former' patients' isolation from society.
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2014

Reinterpretation is no suicide pact

As a scholar specializing in international law and with 10 years of experience in teaching the law, I read the July 3 editorial, titled "Abe guts Article 9," with great disappointment and dismay.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2014

Questions about nuclear safety

Even as opinion polls indicate that most people would like to see Japan shed its dependence on nuclear power, the Abe administration appears to be trying to turn the clock back to before 2011.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 23, 2014

Abe hopes to roll out red carpet for foreign startups

Japan wants to lure more foreign entrepreneurs by easing visa requirements only in special zones, but experts doubt that will be enough incentive to make a difference.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2014

Paris picks GE for Alstom

France chose General Electric to form an alliance with the power and rail company Alstom on Friday, rejecting an offer from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), but said the deal still needs some work and the government will buy a 20 percent stake in the hotly contested company.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 20, 2014

New music label helps classic video-game composers go solo

New music label helps classic video-game composers go solo

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat