Search - environment

 
 
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

Limits sought for waste-water chemicals

Limits should be placed on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in waste water that pours into Tokyo and Osaka bays as well as the Inland Sea, according to a report released Wednesday by an Environment Agency advisory committee on water quality.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Mori, Putin make little progress

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their two-day summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, agreeing to continue peace treaty negotiations toward the yearend deadline but with a territorial dispute stuck at an impasse.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Mori-Putin talks stay at impasse

Japan and Russia began negotiations Monday in Tokyo on sovereignty over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido but failed to narrow their differences, making a peace treaty, the conclusion of which has been targeted for year's end, appear as distant as ever.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

One hostess's whirlwind tour: nothing she'd care to repeat

Brigid came to Japan from Australia on a holiday visa expecting to spend three months talking to sleazy men in hostess clubs -- but in a safe and supportive work environment where the remuneration made it all worthwhile.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2000

Asia takes capitalism on its own terms

ASIAN VALUES, WESTERN DREAMS: Understanding the New Asia, by Greg Sheridan. Allen & Unwin, 1999, 326 pp., 14.99 British pounds (paper). A lot of people thought -- hoped, really -- that the Asian economic crisis would end all that nonsense about "Asian values." The region's stumbles were supposed to...
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2000

Japan flounders without goals

The disturbing thing about Japan today is that it lacks a clear sense of national purpose even though the 21st century is close at hand. The economic slump of the 1990s is often described as a "lost decade" or a "second surrender" (after the defeat in World War II). But it is not just the stagnant economy...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2000

Kasumigaseki to be kid-friendly with new day care center

The Education Ministry is planning to set up a day care center within the National Education Center in the heart of Tokyo's Kasumigaseki administrative district in April, it was learned Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 3, 2000

The making of alternative history

The xich lo (cyclo) is as ubiquitous in Vietnam as the tuk tuk is in Thailand, but completely man-powered: The driver peddles the vehicle behind the comfortably seated passenger. It is currently an important mode of transportation on Vietnam's streets, as well as a livelihood for countless drivers, and...
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2000

Elevated dioxin, PCB found in fish

Elevated levels of dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls were found in the livers of squid, cod and bottom-dwelling sharks off the coast of Japan, according to interim results from an Environment Agency survey released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Lake reclamation scheme canceled

MATSUE, Shimane Pref. -- Following the ruling coalition's termination of a 37-year-old controversial project to reclaim part of Lake Nakaumi and create 1,470 hectares of farmland, local municipalities are scrambling for new central government spending to make up for the aborted project.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Managers wise to be disabled-friendly: speaker

Managers who recruit disabled people and work to accommodate them not only tap an underused well of talent but simultaneously create an environment that will ease the transition of able-bodied workers should they fall victim to repetitive stress injuries or other perils of the modern office.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2000

Beware effect of rising demand on stocks

Now that selloffs by foreign investors that have buffeted the Tokyo stock market for months have finally eased, market participants are showing more gumption.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2000

Cancer-causing chemicals found at Yokohama site

YOKOHAMA -- Just above the junction of the Tsurumi and Toriyama rivers lies a fenced-off area that looks like a simple abandoned lot.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2000

New combined ministry seeks 20 trillion yen budget

The General Affairs Ministry, to be created in January, will seek a budget for fiscal 2001 that is 18.3 percent larger than the combined initial budget of its three predecessor organizations for fiscal 2000, government officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2000

Agency bill would force polluters to clean up soil

The Environment Agency is planning to draft a bill that would oblige polluters to remove toxic chemicals and heavy metals from polluted soil, according to agency sources.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2000

Rare birds to be tracked by satellite

Albatrosses, seen resting on Torishima Island, are among rare migratory birds of Northeast Asia. Japan will launch a project next fiscal year to track the movements of rare migratory birds in Northeast Asia such as the albatross and Saunders' gull, according to Environment Agency officials.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2000

Public opinions sought on nuclear policy

The Atomic Energy Commission said Tuesday that it will hold public hearings on Japan's long-term nuclear policy, including the planned use of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, in a bid to finalize the policy by the end of the year.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2000

A taste of life on the Mongolian steppe

We didn't speak a word of Mongolian, we knew no one in the country and we made no prebookings, but we befriended a family of nomadic Mongols living traditionally on the steppe as herders and discovered an idyllic way of life.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

State offers measures to cut city heat

In its first report on the urban heat island effect, released Monday, the government outlined a list of potential measures to help city centers beat the heat and called for an evaluation to determine which are most effective.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Minicar popularity climbing

Some 40.8 minicars were owned by every 100 households as of the end of March, 1.1 more cars than the previous year, marking the first time the figure has topped 40, according to a report compiled Monday by an industry association.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2000

Addressing the growing role of NGOs

The post-Cold War era has witnessed the rise to prominence of many types of nonstate players on the international stage, including international, regional and subregional organizations, trade regimes, multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations. The last group has perhaps drawn the most...
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Aug 20, 2000

A wealth of autumn events to delight all Tokyo wordsmiths

The upcoming "Ueno Poetrican Jam" is being touted as the biggest poetry-reading event ever to be held in Japan. About 60 poets have been selected from volunteers to participate, and recognized poets such as Sandaime Uotake, Shigeo Hamada and Ikuo Tani will also be on the bill.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 20, 2000

Lessons in transforming space

Mukojima, two stops out from Asakusa, would appear on one's first visit to be the boondocks. Nonetheless, this suburban Tokyo backwater has been the location this year of two site-specific architecture and art projects.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 19, 2000

Colors just the way she wants them

What we have here is a gallery whose walls are bare.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?