Search - environment

 
 
LIFE / Travel
Apr 7, 1999

Preserving a pocket of Fiji

LEVUKA, Fiji -- Thirteen-year-old Una Turaganicolo's strong, clear voice filled her family's timber-frame home, rising to the corrugated roof visible through the rafters. Her sister, Rose, hummed along as she battled with her math homework by the light of a flickering candle.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

NPA adopts strict policy on waste-related crime

Amid an increase in industrial waste-related crimes, the National Police Agency Monday set a policy of strictly prosecuting the illegal disposal of industrial waste and other acts that damage the environment.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tokorozawa produce not a health threat: ministries

The level of dioxin in produce grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, is not substantially above the national average and does not pose any threat to human health, according to a set of emergency government studies released Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 1999

Dioxin report 'inappropriate,' TV Asahi chief tells Diet

TV Asahi President Kunio Ito apologized Thursday before the Diet for a news report aired last month that claimed high concentrations of dioxin were detected in vegetables grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, calling the report "inappropriate."
JAPAN
Mar 1, 1999

New high school courses to break with tradition

Breaking away from the nation's traditionally rigid and formatted educational system, high schools will begin focusing more on nurturing the unique abilities of each student in the coming century, according to the draft of the Education Ministry's new teaching guidelines, released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 1999

The true meaning of the dioxin scare

Nose, a small town on the northern outskirts of Osaka, first put the fear of dioxin into nation's consciousness last year. Now, just 10 months later, another dioxin scare has hit the headlines. This time, the site is Tokorozawa, the Saitama bedroom community on the northwestern outskirts of Tokyo. The...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1998

Bird, nature groups push state to protect Fujimae wetland

Representatives of a national bird organization called on the government Thursday to preserve Aichi Prefecture's Fujimae tidal flats, citing predictions that building a landfill on the site would severely damage the nation's most important wetlands.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1998

Japan, China agree on joint info infrastructure study

Japan and China on Wednesday agreed to begin a joint study on developing an information infrastructure in China with Japanese technology, according to officials of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1998

Diet coalition wants funds upped for homes with children

Policy chiefs from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its two smaller allies agreed Monday evening that another 4 billion yen should be allocated in the 1998 fiscal budget to help households with young children.The step was taken after Takako Doi, leader of the Social Democratic Party, met with...
JAPAN
Sep 25, 1998

Daylight-saving forum rekindles debate

In a move to promote energy saving and leisure activities in summer, the government convened on Friday an open forum in Tokyo to discuss introducing daylight-saving time.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 1998

International negotiators headed for hostile climate

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 11, 1998

Pollution-disclosure conference ends with U.N. address

The Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers conference came to an end Friday with a statement urging several international organizations to aid developing countries and economies with their efforts to build national PRTR systems.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 1998

Tokyo to host global warming meeting

Tokyo will host an informal ministerial meeting on global warming on Sept. 17 and 18, bringing together representatives from 21 countries and the European Union, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 1998

Agency adds farm toxins to guidelines

The Environment Agency has decided to enact a set of comprehensive measures to regulate nitrate nitrogen, a chemical released into the environment from livestock excreta and agricultural fertilizers made of nitrogen, ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 1998

Panel to contemplate measures for boosting births

In response to the nation's declining birthrate, the government will hold the first meeting of an advisory panel July 17 to come up with measures to encourage couples to have more children, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1998

Sulfur limit for diesel fuel may be lowered

The maximum limit on sulfur in light oil used for diesel fuel may be reduced to about one-tenth the current level as early as this fall, according to the Environment Agency.
JAPAN
May 27, 1998

World's mayors, city leaders examine urban problems

Mayors and representatives from 21 major international cities gave reports and exchanged views on urban and environmental problems facing their cities at a Tokyo symposium on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 14, 1998

Global warming panel supports nuclear power

A special government task force set up to curb global warming announced tentative guidelines Thursday that called for the promotion of nuclear energy as well as a daylight-saving time system as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JAPAN
May 7, 1998

Measures on endocrine disrupters set

The Environment Agency on Thursday announced a basic framework for tackling the issue of endocrine disrupters -- chemicals that can be found in the environment and disrupt the working of natural hormones in animals.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1998

Scientists honored for genetic plant engineering

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1998

Greenhouse gas bill awaits nod

The Cabinet is expected to approve a bill today that will oblige the central and prefectural governments to design and publicize their greenhouse gas reduction plans.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 1998

Universal Studios impact survey blasted as 'false'

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1998

MITI bill tracks pollutant releases

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry is planning an environmental protection law that will require industries to report on the pollutants they release into the atmosphere, water and soil.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1998

Domestic auto demand likely to increase 7%, JAMA says

Despite the faltering economy, domestic demand in the auto market is likely to increase by 7 percent in the 1998 business year over the current business year to March 31, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association announced March 19.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1998

Sanyo to venture into elder care business

Sanyo Electric Co. announced Wednesday that it will enter a new business field by establishing a joint venture firm to run nursing homes in light of the rapidly growing elderly population.Sanyo will set up Sanyo Emeritus Corp. jointly with Seattle-based Emeritus Corp. in February. The new firm will...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 1997

Budgetary highlights

The following are some highlights of the fiscal 1998 state budget approved Thursday:
JAPAN
Dec 19, 1997

Entrepreneur says a business can be ecological, profitable

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 25, 1997

Environmentalists march in Tokyo ahead of U.N. conference

Pedestrians paused on the sidewalks and curious storekeepers emerged from boutiques at the sound of marching band music echoing through the streets of Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 1997

Keidanren exec backs long-term emissions goal

Last in a series
JAPAN
Oct 24, 1997

Climate change focus of U.N. symposium

Speakers at a climate change symposium said Oct. 24 the Kyoto global warming conference in December will be a crucial test of whether the world will be able to protect the Earth in the next century.During the symposium, held at United Nations University in Tokyo to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of...

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped