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November 22, 2024
 

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ANIMALS

Scientists worry that if H5N1 spreads through commercial pig farms, it could evolve into a form capable of causing a human pandemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2024
Bird flu in pigs is one step closer to endangering humans
Flu viruses have historically been transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs — either on farms or at agricultural fairs.
The discovery of the Navaornis hestiae fills the intermediate step in evolution between the first bird-like dinosaurs, such as Archaeopteryx, and living birds.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
'One-of-a-kind' fossil from Brazil reveals birds' brain evolution
The fossil discovery filled in a gap of 70 million years in the understanding of the evolution of avian neuroanatomy.
Deer attacks have surged in Nara Park during the fall rutting season, with male deer being particularly aggressive as they search for mates.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 14, 2024
Authorities warn of spike in deer-related injuries at Nara Park
In September, 35 people were injured by antler attacks — a sevenfold increase from the five cases reported during the same period last year.
A bear sighting warning sign in a park at a residential area in the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture. Hanamaki has deployed along riverbanks artificial intelligence-equipped cameras that identify bears and alert city officials.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2024
Municipalities in Japan turn to AI and digital maps to prevent bear encounters
Akita Prefecture's online map consolidates reports of sightings and incidents while the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture has deployed cameras that identify bears.
Katsuko Kurikawa shows the damage done by bears to her chestnut tree.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Nov 4, 2024
Uptick in bear sightings prompts policy shift from conservation to control
Hunting the Asian black bear in the Western Chugoku Mountains has been banned in principle since 1994.
David Cooper (left), executive secretary of COP16, Colombian Environment Minister and COP16 President Susana Muhamad (center), and Astrid Schomaker, secretary of COP16, attend the closing session of the conference in Cali, Colombia, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Nov 3, 2024
U.N. talks on saving nature stumble on finance hurdle
COP16 was suspended after negotiations ran nearly 12 hours longer than planned and delegates started leaving.
The closing session of the United Nations' COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia, on Friday
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Nov 2, 2024
Talks on halting nature loss run into extra time in Colombia
A closing plenary session started more than four hours late as groups of negotiators huddled behind closed doors seeking to iron out their differences.
Akira Oishi (left) and Shinichi Okanobori have taken on the responsibility of surveying the flora and fauna of Mount Tenran and Mount Tonosu in Saitama Prefecture.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Nov 2, 2024
Inside Japan's 100-year project to monitor its deteriorating biodiversity
With researchers and an army of volunteers on its side, the Monitoring Sites 1,000 project aims to bring attention to our fragile ecosystems.
In recent years, anglophone publishers have perked up to the potential of “healing fiction,” driven by a healthy appetite for East Asian literature. Japan figures prominently in this literary landscape, and a fondness for felines in the "iyashikei" (healing type) genre has proven commercially viable abroad.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2024
Cat companions and the 'healing fiction' boom
Japan's "iyashikei" (healing type) cultural products are gaining audiences, and non-Japanese readers are craving cozy feline literature in translation.
Andrea Galeano, head of amphibian and reptile collections at the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, holds an Atelopus marinkellei frog captured during the Humboldt Institute's expeditions, in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, on Oct. 11.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 28, 2024
Colombia's peace opened wildlife to discovery, but new violence frustrates progress
Colombia is now the world's most dangerous place for environmentalists, with 79 killed last year — the most ever in one country in a single year.
Kazuhiro Soda’s “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” follows not only the felines that live on the grounds of the title shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture, but also the local community members, many of whom are of retirement age.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2024
‘The Cats of Gokogu Shrine’: Documentary paints intimate portrait of a community in decline
While stray cats that inhabit the grounds of a local shrine take center stage, the film also celebrates the aging humans doing their best to preserve their neighborhood.
Participants in a protest call for the release of Paul Watson, founder of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, in Paris on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024
Protesters in Paris demand release of Sea Shepherd founder
Japan has placed founder Paul Watson on an international wanted list on suspicion of obstructing the country's research whaling, demanding his extradition.
Men called seko watch bulls fight during the ushi no tsunotsuki event in the Yamakoshi district of Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 13.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 23, 2024
Bullfights continue as symbol of reconstruction after Niigata quake
The former village was devastated by a quake that struck the region in October 2004, killing 68 people and injuring 4,805 others.
A capuchin monkey at the Nupana wildlife refuge near San Jose del Guaviare, Guaviare department, Colombia, in July last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 21, 2024
Nature ‘piracy’ and funding battles will dominate U.N. biodiversity summit
The planet is in a "critical situation,” said Susana Muhamad, COP16 president and Colombia’s environment minister.
A pig bone is hung at the entrance to the Shiokawa district in the village of Tamara, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2021.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 21, 2024
Okinawan pig slaughter ritual blocked by public health authorities
The ban presents a dilemma to residents who say making changes takes away the practice's meaning.
Zootechnician Alejandra Curubo holds a tadpole in Nocaima, Cundinamarca department, Colombia, on July 9.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 17, 2024
Lab-grown frogs: A Colombian's response to wildlife trafficking
The illegal trade in wild flora and fauna is the fourth-most profitable illicit business in the world.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki speaks about measures against the spread of bird flu on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 17, 2024
Hokkaido reports Japan's first bird flu case of the season
The report is the country's earliest confirmed bird flu case at a domestic poultry farm in over two decades. 
“The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” centers on a local shrine in Ushimado’s Honmachi district, which has become home to a colony of street cats.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2024
Kazuhiro Soda embraces the wisdom of street cats
The filmmaker turns his camera closer to home in his new documentary, “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine,” and brings a community into focus.
A dolphin approaches a swimmer in the sea off the coast of the city of Fukui in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 8, 2024
Cases of dolphin attacks spike in Fukui Prefecture this summer
A total of 15 cases have been reported, compared with five last year, with victims sustaining injuries that require multiple stitches.
A flag with the logo of the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in front of the Baku Olympic Stadium, the venue of the summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sept. 19
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 7, 2024
Environment takes center stage as global summits loom
The upcoming session isn't expected to break new ground but will take stock of progress since the last summit secured historic assurances for biodiversity.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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

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