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July 16, 2024
 

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PLASTIC

Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 14, 2024
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
As summers get hotter across the world we’re met with a paradox: To stay cool, it seems we’re compelled to consume more.
The Veolia Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in London.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 11, 2024
Nestle quietly shifted recycling goals as plastics problem grows
Nestle changing its plastics goal means 280,000 metric tons of additional nonrecyclable plastic waste a year, according to the latest available data for 2022.
A Chinese worker organizes plastic doll heads after painting them at a toy factory in Xietang, Zhejiang Province, China, in 2015.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2024
China’s plastics boom is set to create another trade headache
Parts of the country’s sprawling petrochemicals sector are running at as little as half capacity as producers cut back.
A protest accusing Deutsche Bank of greenwashing. Its subsidiary DWS was fined $25 million last year for misstating its environmental, social and governance activities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024
Too many companies make false claims about their social impact
Exaggerated claims about companies' positive social and environmental impact ruin our chances of achieving a sustainable future. An entirely new system is needed.
We don't know how much damage these polymers do to our health. But we can make significant inroads on litter and emissions to tackle this issue head-on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2024
Plastic pollution is a growing problem. Here are some ideas on how to solve it.
International cooperation and proactive measures are needed to mitigate the harmful effects of plastics.
A prop depicting a water tap with cascading plastic bottles is displayed by activists near the Shaw Center venue of penultimate negotiations for the first-ever global plastics treaty, in Ottawa, Canada, on April 23.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 1, 2024
Plastic pollution talks make modest progress but sidestep production curbs
Some warned that too many political compromises would dilute the effectiveness of an eventual treaty while others welcomed a close focus on certain issues.
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks stand on a log as plastic bottles and trash float on the the El Cerron Grande reservoir in Potonico, El Salvador, in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 22, 2024
Negotiations on global plastic treaty to resume in Canada
After promising to finalize a treaty by the end of this year, 175 countries are meeting in Canada from Tuesday to hammer out the details.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2024
Tokyo clinic director fails to report ¥1 billion COVID-19 subsidy
The director received subsidies to perform PCR tests and outsourced testing services, but an audit showed she had not paid some ¥1 billion to outsourcers.
McDonald's Japan will start charging ¥5 for plastic bags of all sizes at some stores, starting in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2024
McDonald's Japan announces trial ¥5 plastic bag charge to curb usage
The firm will eye expanding the fee nationwide following a trial at 23 of its stores in Nagasaki Prefecture starting in April.
Seoul may be a cosmetic surgery mecca, but Tokyo has its fair share of high-quality clinics as well.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 12, 2024
A wrinkles-and-all guide to cosmetic surgery in Japan
Japan is uniquely positioned between two opposing hot spots of the beauty industry: Seoul and Tokyo.
A paper published in The Lancet in December found that plastics likely enter most of our major organs and even affect the good bacteria that makes up our microbiome.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
We don't know how worried we should be about nanoplastics
Nanoparticles can slip into the bloodstream, get into organs, and sneak into cells where they may cause harm.
Columbia University researchers have found that on average, bottled water contain 110,000 to 370,000 tiny plastic particles in each liter, 90% of them nanoplastics.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 9, 2024
Bottled water has more plastic particles than previously thought
The discovery of nanoplastics, which could not be detected until recently, suggests that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated.
Workers collect recyclable garbage including plastic bottles on World Environment Day in Tokyo in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023
New solutions tackle Japan’s waste problem at its core
Issues like the plastics and climate crises seem insurmountable — until we apply "systemic design," as several Japanese initiatives are showing.
Staff at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon 2023 collect used paper cups after the event on Oct. 15.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023
Japanese paper-makers pioneer domestic recycling of paper cups
Until now paper cups have typically been discarded as flammable waste, but are made from high quality pulp that can be reused.
Plastic waste in Yangon's Shwepyithar township. In a working-class neighborhood of Myanmar's Yangon, plastic waste is piled a meter high, the toxic product of what a recent investigation says is rampant dumping of Western trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023
'License to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar
For years, sites across Shwepyithar township have been filling up with trash that chokes fields, blocks the drainage of rains and causes fire risks.
Identifying a sustainable product can involve evaluating claims about emissions, plastic use, water waste and packaging recyclability.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 19, 2023
Regulators are trying to stop greenwashing before it gets worse
The range of agencies tackling dubious sustainability claims is indicative of its ambiguity and breadth.
A municipality worker collects garbage, most of which is plastic and domestic waste, along the shore of Jakarta.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 4, 2023
Trash to treasure: Indonesian firm turns plastic into bricks
The company mixes volcanic ash, mountain stones, plastic waste and cement to make its bricks, which do not contain sand like regular ones.
The Environment Ministry plans to launch a survey in fiscal 2024 on how manufacturers recycle plastics and metals contained in industrial waste.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2023
Japan to conduct survey on closed-loop recycling
Closed-loop recycling is spreading in recent years on the back of improvements in technology to remove impurities from recyclable waste.
Japan's major paper manufacturers are developing a new fiber to expand the use of wood amid a decline in domestic demand for paper.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2023
Japan paper industry to develop new wood fiber material
With demand for paper in the doldrums, the industry is looking to expand the use of wood, a renewable resource, beyond paper products.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2023
AI robots can’t clean our plastic-plagued oceans alone
AI technology can help mitigate environmental damage but it can’t solve the problem of the plastics polluting the oceans.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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