Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Mar 30, 2020
We live in neither East nor West
by C.W. Nicol
With COVID-19 pulling the world apart, it's the people, from healthworkers to thoughtful neighbors that can bring it back together.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Dec 30, 2019
The fallen apples of Typhoon Hagibis
by C.W. Nicol
When the Typhoon Hagibis floods hit Nagano, it near-destroyed the apple farms for which the area is famous, with contaminants in the floodwaters making it impossible to salvage any of the surviving fruit.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Sep 29, 2019
A fine tree that's worth getting to know
by C.W. Nicol
In postwar Japan, the government's Forestry Agency claimed that the Japanese beech was a useless tree. That's utter nonsense — beech wood is great for interiors and the tree is not only important for wildlife water management, but it also produces edible leaves and ...
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Jul 28, 2019
Will our insects keep on disappearing?
by C.W. Nicol
With concern, but little surprise, I read an article by Daphne Rousseau in The Japan Times on July 2 about a mass extinction of insects in Krefeld, Germany, near the Dutch border. There, based on a study going back almost 30 years, entomologist Martin Sorg ...
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Apr 28, 2019
Growing old as the new era dawns
by C.W. Nicol
C. W. Nicol relects on more than 35 years of working to conserve the environment in Japan.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Dec 30, 2018
Young eco-warriors use their smarts to combat environmental concerns
by C.W. Nicol
The 7th AEON Eco-1 Grand Prix environmental competition highlights school kids' inventive solutions to environmental issues.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Oct 28, 2018
All hail Caesar's wild mushrooms
by C.W. Nicol
Many people make that distinction between "good" mushrooms and "bad" toadstools, though there's no scientific difference between the two — and there are some branded as "toadstools" that are, in fact, delicious.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Aug 5, 2018
Living the slow life can be a religious experience
by C.W. Nicol
CW. Nicol visits Zenryoji temple in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture for a Candle Night public event, led by chief priest Tomonobu Narita, for a slow-life-themed evening.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Apr 29, 2018
A wetland works wonders in battered Tohoku
by C.W. Nicol
A proposed wetland nature center in Miyagi Prefecture would give wild birds a new home while attracting bird-loving tourists to Tohoku.
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Feb 11, 2018
There's no business like snow business
by C.W. Nicol
A few weeks ago I had things to do in Tokyo and Yokohama, so I had a ticket booked for a late-afternoon train from Nagano on Jan. 22. Then that morning my manager in Tokyo phoned to tell me I should come early ...
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Oct 29, 2017
A return to Resolute: Exploring the wintry climes of northern Canada
by C.W. Nicol
We sailed from Greenland, across Baffin Bay, on Aug. 4, 2017. The sea was calm, and largely free of ice floes, although still dotted here and there with icebergs. The following day we reached the small community of Pond Inlet, more than 600 kilometers ...
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Jul 30, 2017
Don't be fooled, pests are a problem — no matter how cute they appear
by C.W. Nicol
I recently went out to my friend John Harris' country home in the Isumi district of Chiba Prefecture, about 100 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. His house is midway down the Pacific coast of the Boso Peninsula, close to the small town of Onjuku, which ...