Search - environment

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2005

Mesothelioma risk known in '78

The government was aware that inhaling even a small amount of asbestos could cause mesothelioma, an incurable cancer, more than a decade before Japan started to curb asbestos use in 1989, according to a 1978 report by a labor ministry expert panel obtained by Kyodo News.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 24, 2005

Kroon in tune as surprise closer for BayStars

Yokohama BayStars relief pitcher Marc Kroon made headlines July 19 when he threw a 161-kph (100.6 mph) fastball in a game against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium. However, setting a record for the fastest pitch thrown in a Japan pro baseball game was not his goal.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2005

Ministries form asbestos crisis teams

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare set up a crisis team Friday to deal with asbestos-linked health problems, while the Ministry of Environment established a similar group, officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2005

Asbestos deaths just tip of the iceberg

Recent revelations that hundreds of workers at firms across Japan have died from asbestos-linked diseases over the past few decades have raised questions about whether the health risks of the unburnable mineral were duly recognized by the government and businesses.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2005

Yushchenko backs Japan bid for UNSC

Japan is qualified to secure a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, in view of the political and economic role it has played within the organization, visiting Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2005

Ministries to seek complete asbestos halt

The health and trade ministries will jointly ask 18 industry groups to stop all use of asbestos as soon as possible, sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Jul 17, 2005

Dining where no solo woman dared

Reiko Yuyama believes that adventures are there to be had in daily life without having to go out into the wilderness. In that sense, she says she might be "more of an adventurer than Christopher Columbus or Naomi Uemura," the late, great Japanese explorer and climber who disappeared on Mount McKinley...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2005

On the verge of decline

The countdown has begun ahead of Japan's plunge into a period of shrinking population that will have a serious impact on the nation's economy and society, especially the labor force and social welfare, including the pension system.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2005

White paper targets red tape, menace of deflation

The government issued its annual economic white paper Friday, calling for greater deregulation and other market-driven reforms aimed at slimming down the bureaucracy.
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2005

Store lobby targets costs of recycling

The Japan Chain Stores Association asked the government Friday to revise the present system for recycling food containers and packages to address what it claims is an unfair burden placed on large retailers in the form of recycling costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2005

Security threat from disease

SINGAPORE -- Given the real possibility of a global pandemic, possibly from the possible outbreak of a virulent influenza, it's time to ask: Should states treat infectious diseases as security threats?
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2005

Terrorism in London

The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize: to scare or intimidate a society. The perpetrators of the bombings in London on Thursday may claim to have some lofty purpose, but attacks on ordinary citizens are barbaric, pure and simple. And, once again, the murderers have failed: They have not broken or...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

Where Zen is perfectly at home

ZEN AND KYOTO, by John Einarsen. Uniplan Co., Inc, 2004, 135 pp., 2,381 yen (paper). Like heaven and hell, or the elements of earth and rock, Zen and the city of Kyoto are joined at the hip.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2005

IPS exec urges news agencies to find new roles in Internet age

The Internet has upset the monopolies on communication and information traditionally enjoyed by major news organizations, and news agencies must define their roles in this new environment, according to Mario Lubetkin, director general of global news agency Inter Press Service.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2005

Asbestos death tally hits 306

The number of workers reported by companies to have died from asbestos-related lung diseases rose Wednesday to 306 at 14 firms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2005

Fuel-cell vehicles run clean, but is their future clear?

Fuel-cell vehicles have been dubbed the ultimate clean car, but whether they can replace gasoline-powered automobiles in the not-so-distant future is an open question.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 4, 2005

Ministries should seek corporate input when revamping statistics

There have been complaints that the economic statistics compiled by the government no longer reflect the developments of the times or the changing structure of the Japanese economy.
COMMENTARY
Jul 4, 2005

Denial of a philosophical root

Unlike their Western counterparts, many Japanese economists seem to have a mistaken notion that theories are everything in economics. Rather than disregard them, Japanese almost seem unaware of the philosophies that underlie theories. Western economists make policy proposals based on economics only after...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 3, 2005

Writers ask: Are you being served?

SAYING YES TO JAPAN: How Outsiders are Reviving a Trillion Dollar Services Market, by Tim Clark and Carl Kay. New York: Vertical, 2005. 175 pp., $14.95 (paper). Readers familiar with Japan are in danger of whiplash when reading this entertaining and informative book about Japan's services sector. Some...
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2005

Protection in a modern economy

The recent theft of data from some 40 million credit-card accounts in the United States is another reminder of the insecurities of the digital world. Electronic commerce continues to rise in volume but consumers, retailers, financial institutions and other parts of the business chain have not yet adjusted...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 2, 2005

G.B. Umesh

Mysore, a former princely state in India and the seat of an ancient ruling family, was always known for its fabulous wealth.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2005

Law passes to facilitate M&As but allow for takeover defenses

The House of Councilors on Wednesday passed into law a bill to update the corporate legal system, facilitate mergers and acquisitions and enhance defenses against hostile takeovers.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2005

Arsenic in Kamisu well not from poison gas: panel

Arsenic contamination of well water in the town of Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, came from an arsenic compound that was mixed into blocks of concrete and abandoned there by an unknown party, not from wartime chemical weapons as previously assumed, an Environment Ministry panel concluded Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 30, 2005

Changing values pose problems for terminal care in Japan

Several years ago, I read cancer surgeon Fumio Yamazaki's unforgettable book titled "Dying in a Japanese Hospital." Through case studies of his patients, he describes the final moments in the lives of terminal cancer sufferers. Invariably, just as a patient is slipping away, doctors battle to resuscitate...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2005

M&A, poison pill bill nearly law

A House of Councilors panel approved a bill Tuesday to update Japan's corporate legal system, paving the way for the enactment of new legislation to facilitate mergers and acquisitions while strengthening countermeasures against hostile takeovers.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2005

Microsoft to give NPA computer tech info

U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. has signed an agreement with the National Police Agency to provide technological information to help it investigate computer-related crimes, including cyber attacks, officials of the two parties said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2005

Brit, American win Blue Planet Prize

Scientists Nicholas Shackleton of Britain and Gordon Hisashi Sato of the United States have been awarded the international Blue Planet Prize for 2005 by the Tokyo-based Asahi Glass Foundation, the foundation announced Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2005

Filipinos lose a moral force

The death of Cardinal Jaime Sin is a grievous loss to the Philippines. Cardinal Sin was a spiritual and moral force in a country that often seemed to lack that authority. He provided comfort and wisdom to the Philippine people, and legitimacy to the popular movements that toppled two governments. He...

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