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November 22, 2024
 

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PLASTICS

A petrochemical plant in China. Asia's producers face the toughest outlook, with oversupply likely to persist.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2024
Petrochemical makers enter survival mode amid global glut
Major petrochemical producers in Asia and Europe are selling assets, shutting older plants, and retrofitting facilities.
The most relevant measure to gauge plastic bag use isn’t how many carriers get used, but how much material is consumed and how much pollution is produced in their making.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2024
Plastic bag bans have failed in every way except one
Reusable plastic bags need to be used 52 times before its environmental impact drops below that of a disposable one, according to a 2018 Danish study.
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.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2022
Plastic-munching bacteria offer hope for recycling
Offering a ray of hope, plastic has become so enmeshed in our ecosystem that bacteria have evolved to digest it and scientists are trying to take advantage of that fact.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2020
Banning glitter won’t save the oceans
Those sparkly bits of plastic that make ornaments twinkle, wrapping paper glimmer and wreaths shimmer are increasingly seen as an environmental hazard.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2020
Don’t give up on recycling plastics
Fortunately for the world, the recycling industry has a history of transforming what was previously “unrecyclable” into useful products. It's poised to do so again.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 13, 2020
How my local Japanese supermarket killed 'Methuselah'
We all try to do our part for the environment, William Lang's contribution was 'Methuselah,' his trusty (and banged up) reusable shopping bag.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2019
German minister prepares law to ban plastic bags after voluntary efforts by businesses fail
Germany plans a law to ban the use of plastic bags because voluntary agreements with retailers to curb usage have not yielded good enough results, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said on Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2019
Get off the bandwagon of banning plastic bags
When used just once plastic bags can cause problems, but many people repurpose them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 21, 2019
The lesson from one student-led trash pick-up is that everyone needs to do their part
It's April on Shiraishi Island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea. The nights are still crisp, dipping to 4 degrees Celsius, but the sky is clear and the stars arc over the beach like thousands of glittery sequins on a pop idol's stage dress. The constellations are so prominent, even a young child can pick out...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2018
Better plastics for healthier seas
The world does not need new bans or taxes on plastics. Rather, it needs people who work with plastic to take advantage of technological advances that make it safer for the environment.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 28, 2014
Music scene loses a legend after Plastics' member Masahide Sakuma dies
On Jan. 16, 2014, the musician and producer Masahide Sakuma died after losing his battle with cancer. He was 61.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
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.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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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