Search - environment

 
 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2013

'Flammable ice': a bad choice

Exploiting domestic offshore reserves of methane hydrate may be too tempting for Japan's leaders to resist. But this 'flammable ice' is a fuel decoy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 29, 2013

In Japan, gun control is the norm and discipline is rigid

The recent mass shootings in the United States have spurred the White House to pursue what many in the nation consider taboo: strict gun controls.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 14, 2013

Advising Abe on the wisdom of a nuclear restart

Readers offer some advice to the new prime minister on the contentious issue of nuclear power in post-3/11 Japan.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 9, 2013

Fukushima cleanup crews cut corners

Two construction joint ventures hired to wash radioactive substances off buildings in two Fukushima Prefecture communities in December allowed the tainted water to run off into street gutters, an Environment Ministry official said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 8, 2013

From Taiji to Okinawa, readers dissect some issues of 2012

In the first of our new Community Chest letters columns, we bring together a selection of mails received in response to some of the final Community stories of 2012.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 29, 2012

Textile scholar advocates sustainable fashion

Yoshiko Wada, textile artist and scholar, believes the word "sustainable" in foods and fashion shares the same philosophical taste. "Both are a holistic approach, about health, environment, and the community that supports it. We must recapture and rethink how we are going to sustain our Earth and society,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 27, 2012

Polar bear hunting, trade sparks global controversy

The polar bear was more than 1 km away and began running toward the dog sled, quickly closing the distance on the frozen Arctic waters of Canada's Resolute Bay.
Reader Mail
Nov 29, 2012

Better elementary schools

While studying in the United States as a 2011 Fulbright visiting scholar, I strongly felt that there was an urgent need for Japan to create a new elementary school environment of progressive education with skilled teachers. As Japan's global presence has diminished, "the nurturing of global human resources"...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2012

The muddy issue of cesium in a lake

Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture is facing an environmental threat that has essentially turned it into a time bomb ticking away 60 km northeast of Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2012

Female diplomat has rare work-life balance

Hikariko Ono has always been a survivor in Japan's male-dominated society.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 7, 2012

Minamata: a saga of suffering and hope

The last job I had that paid me a real salary was with the Canadian government's Environmental Protection Service in the mid 1970s.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2012

Tokyo's determined bid for the 2020 Olympics

Tokyo's "Candidate City" bid for the 2020 Olympic Games was officially recognized in May by the IOC (International Olympic Committee), and it looks quite natural in view of Tokyo's reputation as a safe, clean and culturally rich megalopolis.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2012

Measuring a society's value

Guan Zhong, an ancient Chinese savant, once stated that people learn to behave with good manners only when they have sufficient clothing and food.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

Female parley slaps male dominance

Men need to shed their deeply ingrained leadership mentality and tap female innovation, especially in Japan, where women could be the key to regaining competitiveness and igniting the rapid economic growth being experienced in many other parts of Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2012

Lowering the risks of conflict in the Asia-Pacific

There was little surprise in President Barack Obama's announcement late last year that the United States would strengthen its position in East Asia while drawing down its forces in Europe.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2012

Commitment that failed to come

The U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, was held in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22 as a follow up to the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), also held in the Brazilian city. Since 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the U.N. Framework Convention...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2012

Long live the crested ibis

Four crested ibises have hatched from eggs laid by two breeding pairs of the endangered birds on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture (three hatchlings to one pair and one to the other pair). They are the first to be born in the wild since 1976. The efforts to return the species to the wild will serve as...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 8, 2012

Efforts to save Japanese crested ibis take flight

Japanese spirits were uplifted recently by the news that three "toki," or Japanese crested ibis, chicks were hatched in the wild for the first time in 36 years, the culmination of a ¥300 million project that was started in 1999 to breed the endangered wading birds outside captivity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Mar 29, 2012

A tale of two paths to indie success

Tokyo postpunk quartet Otori is an archetypal product of the city's underground live-music scene. The band's sets feature a machine-gun rattle of drums, slashes of guitar that explode in fierce climaxes, and bursts of scattershot vocals that teeter on the brink of hysteria — the kind of music that...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 13, 2012

New Zealander loses legal fight over crippling med addiction

When Wayne Douglas arrived home in New Zealand from Japan in early 2001, his own mother didn't recognize him at the airport.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2012

Government to pay debris disposal costs

The environment minister said Monday that financial support will be given to any local government that accepts and disposes of debris from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures generated by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Longform

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