Search - environment

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2002

Assessment of economy downgraded

The government on Tuesday downgraded its overall assessment of the economy for the first time in a year, acknowledging that the pace of improvement has slowed and downside risks have increased.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2002

Boatmen boast of Biwa's bounty

OMIHACHIMAN, Shiga Pref. -- Among the many tours available for enjoying the beauty of Lake Biwa is a ride aboard a small wooden boat rowed by a skilled sculler who also serves as a guide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Cornucopia direct from 'Fruit Kingdom'

Fresh pears, apples and persimmons from the "Fruit Kingdom" are available at Yamagata Plaza Yutorito.
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2002

Extensive debate on the Constitution

A Lower House constitutional research panel last week released an interim report summarizing nearly three years of its discussions. The voluminous document covers a wide range of subjects, including the Emperor system, roles of the Self-Defense Forces and basic human rights. However, it leaves open the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2002

Russia's new nuclear threat

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Hundreds of nuclear submarines float quietly at their berths throughout the Russian Federation. The end of the Cold War has not ended the threat posed by these sleek gray killing machines. Today, however, concern focuses on the environmental risks created by the decommissioning...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Oct 7, 2002

Brainstorming to bring positive change

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In an article on the IMF/World Bank meeting in Washington last month entitled "A Washington gathering of incompetents," Gerald Baker, while lambasting policyma- kers in the United States and the European Union, handed the first prize for incompetence to Japan. "Every time it...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002

Takafumi Goda: the man at the helm

As director of the university division of the higher education bureau at the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, Takafumi Goda is at the helm of national policy on university education. Recently, one of his chief tasks has been to oversee long-awaited reforms to Japan's university...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 6, 2002

Take time for a journey of the senses

Imagine a break in the day where the hustle and bustle of life is put aside, and your total attention is given over to the senses and the discovery of new wines and unexpected, heartening bargains. Tasting and evaluating wine is a challenge, one that requires endurance, focus and discipline, but it can...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2002

A sustainable recovery for developing Asia?

The strong global recovery that was widely expected to take place in the latter half of 2002 has not materialized. On the contrary, increasing uncertainties are undermining the confidence of consumers and investors worldwide, and the speed of economic recovery in the industrialized world is likely to...
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

BOJ Policy Board feared impact of stock fall

Several members of the Bank of Japan Policy Board were concerned over the negative effects that Japan's stock market decline is having on the financial environment during meetings Aug. 8 and 9, according to minutes released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 21, 2002

Isolation poses major danger to modern mothers

Yumi, the mother of a 17-month-old girl in Tokyo, said she started feeling the burden of raising a child even before she became a mom.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 21, 2002

Alternative secondary school meets special needs

The first floor of the building that houses International Secondary School (ISS) in Tokyo's Meguro Honcho is deserted. This is English Studio, a conversation school for toddlers and tinies that starts late afternoon.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Full time oft tough balancing act

For three young women, working as temps matches both their career plans and their private lives.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Two wetlands slated for protection

Two wetlands should be added to the list of wildlife preserves with the aim of registering them under an international convention on wetlands to be held in Spain in November, the Environment Ministry's Central Environment Council decided Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Japan regrets going overboard with Earth summit team

Japan should have sent a smaller delegation to the recently concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Environment Minister Hiroshi Ohki said on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2002

A 'disappointing' success

Ten days of haggling about the Earth's future in Johannesburg, South Africa, have yielded an action plan and a political declaration, though both are less ambitious that they might have been.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Sumatra Island residents file dam lawsuit

Nearly 3,900 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Tokyo, each seeking 5 million yen for damages caused by a dam Japan funded with official development assistance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Sanyo touts home-use sensor to gauge sleep apnea

OSAKA -- A new sensor developed by Sanyo Electric Co. could help people with sleep apnea, and may eventually regulate the environment in which one sleeps.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Tokyo's blueprints of th past - and the future

Tokyo is an ugly city. Sure, it may not suffer from the smog of Mexico City, be blighted by Johannesburg-style shantytowns or possess Houston's plate-glass vacuity. Nonetheless, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, World War II bombing and subsequent construction booms have combined to obliterate the...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2002

IT-related sectors' CO 2 output may soar by 2010, report says

Carbon dioxide emitted by industries involved in information technology in Japan could log a three-fold increase in the 10 years from 2000 to 2010, according to a recent study.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Efforts afoot to protect whistle-blowers

OSAKA -- Recent years have seen more and more whistle-blowers come forward to expose corporate wrongdoing, often to their own personal career detriment.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2002

Japan to push satellite use at Johannesburg meeting

During the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, the National Space Development Agency of Japan will try to convince other countries to use more of its satellite data to monitor natural disasters, NASDA officials said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 22, 2002

Time to change, or find another planet

First of two parts Next week, tens of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, activists and policy analysts will descend on Johannesburg, South Africa, for the largest conference in human history: the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2002

Clearing up the haze

Since it first commanded world attention in 1997, "haze" -- an ugly smog created by fires -- has become a regular feature of the Southeast Asian environment. A new United Nations report identifies the grimy acid cocktail as a major health hazard for that region and the world. It is killing millions and...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 19, 2002

Raze the barriers to inward investment

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The 21st century has not gotten off to a particularly brilliant start. Greed, corruption and dishonesty are pervasive. Scandals are rocking the world of business and politics in America and Europe. The chances of the Bush/Cheney administration becoming paralyzed by investigations...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 18, 2002

Veteran voyeur gives the skinny on Hibiya Park lovebirds

In Tokyo's Hibiya Park, just by the Hibiya gate entrance, couples can often be seen laying claim to benches surrounding a large fountain.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2002

Child-care service company offers peace of mind for working mothers

OSAKA -- Rieko Ueda started her own business a year ago and expects it to turn a profit early next year, and yet part of her wishes it will someday go bankrupt.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2002

Computer diagnoses wasteful driving

The Environment Ministry has developed a system to diagnose "environmentally efficient driving" and will request 60 million yen in the next fiscal year's budget to produce 300 sets of the necessary equipment, ministry officials said Tuesday.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan