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May 02, 2024
 

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David Fickling
For David Fickling's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2021
Why 25 previous conferences have failed to stop climate change
Climate talks are at a disadvantage from the start as their intent is stunningly broad: remaking the energy systems that have powered the planet since the Industrial Revolution.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2021
China’s power crisis will affect industries worldwide
The world has become hooked on cheap Chinese power for making a host of its goods. About half of all metal is produced in China and nearly a fifth of all oil is refined there.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2021
Pandora Papers show the rich will always find a way
For all the revelations about the shadow global financial system for the wealthy since the ICIJ's first revelations in 2013, it's striking how little has changed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2021
Starvation is as much a threat to Afghan women as the Taliban
In an aid-dependent economy already in deep trouble, the removal of tens of thousands female workers, many supporting large families, will only add to those facing hunger.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2021
COVID-19 vaccines may become a viable business. That’s a problem.
Inoculations have been distributed to almost every person on the planet. But, traditionally, they been unprofitable for the pharmaceutical industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2021
What 16th-century Venice teaches us about crypto
If Bitcoin and its ilk are to survive, they will need to find a way to betray their libertarian roots and cut their own deals with the state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2021
Indonesia can’t afford the luxury of Australia’s carbon habit
A business based on mining, hauling and burning heavy rocks to spit out electrons struggles to survive everywhere that fuel-free renewables manage to take root.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2021
Climate targets must 'be realistic and demand the impossible'
About a third of all human greenhouse emissions in history have happened since 1997, when world leaders adopted the Kyoto Protocol with an ambition of limiting such pollution.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2021
The pandemic will be more deadly this year — particularly for India
The more people infected in emerging countries, the more opportunities COVID-19 will have to develop into fresh strains and prolong this death and misery.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2021
Florida toxic waste crisis could be key to China rare earths fight
Concerns about China's control over rare earths are probably overblown given how abundant they are.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2021
COVID-19 isn’t over, and the next wave may be worse
While we're increasingly talking about the coronavirus in the past tense, the worst may still be ahead of us. Infections worldwide rose 47% during March from a lull in late February.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2021
Gas won’t save a nation that can’t fill up its tank
Despite its world-beating exports of coal and liquefied natural gas, Australia is seriously short of oil.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2021
Turning the tide on two centuries of emissions
Climate and energy plans presented in China's 14th Five Year Plan this month represent the most important policies in determining the fate of the planet.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2021
China’s weaponization of rare earths is bound to backfire
There was a time when China could cause the world to tremble by threatening its supply of rare earths. It's long in the past.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2020
We’re never going to mine the asteroid belt
One factor rules out most space mining at the outset: gravity. It guarantees that most of the solar system's best mineral resources are to be found under our feet on Earth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2020
Beyond Meat takes on tough rival in China: tofu
Beyond Meat Inc., the U.S. maker of plant-based burgers and sausages, announced a new product designed to crack China, the world's biggest meat market: imitation ground pork.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2020
Zero hour is coming for emissions. Believe it.
Any targets laid out by politicians will find themselves up against institutional inertia, unintended consequences and political pushback.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2020
Australia's money laundering detectives have been out at the pub
Unlike cash laundering, which involves a relatively small number of casinos and businesses, invoice-based laundering can take place between almost any two companies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2020
Capitalism caused climate change; it must also be the solution
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the the biggest drop in emissions in history and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2020
Jacinda Ardern landslide is a vote for COVID-19 competence
Shutting down New Zealand's economy at a time when there'd been just 102 cases was a political gamble, but one that's paid off.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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