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November 21, 2024
 

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ENVIRONMENT

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference in Dubai on Dec. 2. Harris and Donald Trump are poles apart when it comes to climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
America’s coming climate election
Clearly, the positions of the two U.S. presidential candidates on the climate crisis could not be more different.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a green transformation (GX) conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Japan to discuss 10-step process for decarbonization strategy rollout
The list includes ways to make it easier for businesses to invest in carbon-free power sources such as renewable energy and nuclear power.
Mosquitoes under a microscope in a lab at Sahmyook University in Seoul on July 24
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 27, 2024
As the world warms, South Korea's latest border threat is mosquitoes
Climate change, especially warmer springs and heavier rainfall, could bring more mosquito-borne diseases to North and South Korea.
Oceanographic research vessel Mirai is docked at the port of Sekinehama in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on Monday before it embarked on an Arctic voyage later in the day.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2024
Japan's Mirai research vessel embarks on Arctic journey
Mirai is tasked with ocean research and weather observations in the Arctic Ocean, in hopes of finding the cause and impact of rapid global warming in the area.
The Noto Peninsula quasi-national park in 2020, before the area was hit by the the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2024
Government to help set up hiking trail in Ishikawa
The environment ministry plans to secure ¥900 million as related expenses in its fiscal 2025 budget request.
Cho Seong-hoan tends to bees at a farm near the Demilitarized Zone, in Paju, South Korea, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2024
The DMZ is an unhealed wound for South Korea. It’s also a source of great honey.
The area is home to a biodiverse landscape and is a place of deep meaning for nearby farmers whose bees can fly freely through it.
The Environment Ministry plans to offer ¥100 million to the U.N. Environment Program to be used for a study into synergistic model cases including reducing greenhouse gas while preserving the ecosystem.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 25, 2024
Japan to give ¥100 million to U.N. environment program
The funds are to be set aside under the Environment Ministry's fiscal 2025 budget request.
Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School in Kanoi village near Jaisalmer, India, earlier this month. In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 24, 2024
Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat
Temperatures inside the school, designed by U.S. architect Diana Kellogg and built by local artisans, can be as much as 20% lower than those outside.
Transport ministry officials enter the Kobe plant of Kawasaki Heavy Industries for an on-site inspection on Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024
Transport ministry raids Kawasaki Heavy over ship engine test tampering
The firm has admitted inappropriately tweaked testing equipment to keep emissions data within ranges of customer specifications and reduce the variance of data.
Wind turbines in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2024
Japan offers lifeline to ESG investing amid backlash overseas
In light of the anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said that Japan can play a key role in driving sustainable finance globally.
An infant orangutan with its mother in Sepilok, Malaysia, on Saturday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024
Apes to stay at home as Malaysia tweaks 'orangutan diplomacy'
Countries that buy Malaysian palm oil can "sponsor" one or more orangutans, and the funds collected will be used to implement conservation programs, minister says.
The parliament building in Tokyo. With concerns about summer heat rising and many elections taking place in summertime, it may not be tenable to conduct campaigns as in the past given health risks to candidates, their staff and voters.
JAPAN / Politics / Boiling Point
Aug 17, 2024
Hotter summers pose a threat to Japan's tradition of stump speeches
Balancing health concerns with legal restrictions as well as candidates' desire to be as publicly visible as possible, even in super hot weather, might be tricky.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a group photo with other regional leaders prior to the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) leaders meeting in Tokyo in December.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2024
Japan's energy diplomacy reflects global divide over how to reach net zero
Japan’s focus should be on advancing truly innovative and effective renewable technologies, rather than prolonging fossil fuel use.
Tourists at a water fountain at the Acropolis archaeological site during extreme hot weather conditions in Athens in July 2023.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2024
Extreme weather drives travelers to cooler destinations this summer
Cruise operators, hotel companies and airlines are adding trips and accommodations to meet rising demand for temperate destinations.
Bales of hard-to-recycle plastic waste piled up at Renewlogy Technologies in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 17, 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 15, 2024
In shift, U.S. backs global target to reduce plastic production, source says
The change away from earlier calls to leave such decisions up to each country puts the U.S. in direct opposition to countries like Saudi Arabia and China.
Following the Paris Olympics, two swimming pools, the climbing wall and the skateboard parks are set to be dug out and moved — most of them to the poverty-stricken Seine-Saint-Denis suburb northeast of Paris.
OLYMPICS
Aug 14, 2024
Olympics infrastructure and equipment heads for 'second life' post-Games
Over decades, the world's biggest sporting event has forged a reputation for monumental waste, but Paris organizers are hoping to change that.
A ward for heatstroke patients at a hospital in Chennai, India, in May. The country experienced a severe heat wave over the spring and summer, raising concerns about the long-term impact of climate change-induced extreme heat on human health.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024
Climate change: A health emergency in the making
Global warming's impact on health is an increasingly urgent issue — just look at excess deaths caused by extreme heat. But are health care systems well-equipped enough?
The destruction left behind by the Borel Fire near Lake Isabella, California, on July 29
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024
Wildfires are getting weirder. Case in point: 'firenados.'
Sometimes fire thunderstorms even create their own lightning, which spawns new blazes miles away.
A new trend on social media advocates living a more frugal lifestyle that prioritizes quality over quantity.
WORLD / Society
Aug 12, 2024
Do I need it? 'Underconsumption core' trends on TikTok
Years of inflation have forced many to the conclusion they cannot keep up with the spending habits of those on their social media feeds.
Stuart McDonald, a fifth-generation farmer, searches for freshly planted seeds coated with Loam Bio’s fungal treatment, near Canowindra, Australia, on April 24.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 12, 2024
Australian farmers are betting on fungi to battle climate change
Fungi act as nature’s carbon traders, pulling it from the roots of plants and giving the plant nutrients in return.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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