For Chisaki Watanabe's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Criticism by a Cabinet minister of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's energy policies may say more about his own political prospects than it does about the country's debate over clean power. Taro Kono, whom Abe appointed foreign minister last year, used a speech Sunday in the ...
What started as a way to cut Japan's dependence on imported fossil fuels has led to an expected surge in a different and equally controversial energy source: palm oil. Government incentives instituted in the wake of the Fukushima reactor meltdowns in 2011 guarantee prices for ...
Ohara Inc. sees batteries playing a bigger role in its future. The Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture-based optical glassmaker, whose products are used in precision optical devices such as digital cameras and telescopes, is eying a share of the fast-growing battery market with a material that it ...
Want a canister of clean energy to go with your basket of carrots and fresh fish? Hydrogen will soon be delivered to homes in northern Japan using the same delivery trucks that transport food and water bottles as part of a pilot project to encourage ...
As Elon Musk pushes out from his California base to make electric vehicles ubiquitous, a Japanese firm deep in the depths of the battery supply chain is riding his wake. Tanaka Chemical Corp., which has a long history in developing battery materials, says it's boosting ...
Researchers at an Osaka-based firm are closing in on a safer generation of batteries that could weather extreme temperatures in outer space. At least that's what Hitachi Zosen Corp. is betting on. The company, better known for building plants that convert waste to energy, is ...
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are in a neck-and-neck race to be the biggest lead arrangers of lending to the renewable energy industry in the first half of the year, highlighting the more active financing role for Japanese banks ...
Panasonic Corp. will begin selling its residential fuel cell systems in the U.K. and Austria this year as it seeks to solidify its lead in a product category that some see as a stepping stone to harnessing hydrogen as the fuel of the future. Sales ...
Imagine a future when solar cells can be sprayed or printed onto the windows of skyscrapers or atop sport utility vehicles — and at prices potentially far cheaper than today's silicon-based panels. It's not as far-fetched as it seems. Solar researchers and company executives think ...
Elon Musk may think hydrogen-powered vehicles are rubbish, but Toyota Motor Corp. and a cadre of Japan's leading manufacturers are betting otherwise — and not just on cars. With the blessing of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Toyota is at the forefront of Japan's efforts to ...
