and TECH Japan members Suvendrini Kakuchi and Akiko Ozaki show off an apron made at a sewing center for tsunami and civil war survivors here in northern Sri Lanka.

Eight months later, still trying to overcome her grief, Ikehashi, 43, has returned to Sri Lanka -- this time as a member of a nongovernmental organization she helped set up to carry out relief projects in the north to help residents recover from the tsunami's destruction and cope with civil war.

Our Planet

The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.