Search - environment

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2015

Brazil: cutting emissions by fighting deforestation

With an incredible 41 percent reduction in emissions since 2005, Brazil is creating an environmental model for the entire world.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 4, 2015

Feeding strategy of blue whales revealed

The blue whale is the largest creature on Earth and perhaps the biggest that ever lived, so it is no surprise it has a huge appetite. But the strategies this behemoth uses to get enough food has not been well understood — until now.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 3, 2015

Don't be green about the charm of tatami

When we were thinking of buying a condominium, we visited several old danchi — apartments built by Japan's former public housing corporation — because they were cheap and, we thought, easy to renovate. One of the units we inspected had bedroom floors made of tatami mats, and we wondered if we could...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 3, 2015

Sled dogs in an age of climate change

When I first went to the Canadian Arctic in 1958, sled dogs were a part of life for the indigenous Inuit and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and part of the scenery and the soundscape for everyone in those frigid far-northern reaches.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2015

Kuroda's retreat from bonds stymied by expectations for more BOJ stimulus

With the economy weakening markedly, banks are flocking to longer-dated government debt on expectations the Bank of Japan will expand its stimulus program. That's creating fresh challenges for BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, who's trying to get banks to buy fewer bonds and lend more.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2015

Ozzie the eagle dead after live-streamed duel with love rival in Florida

A love triangle between bald eagles that played out before thousands of fans on a live webcam has ended badly in Florida with the death of Ozzie, longtime mate of Harriet, according to a Florida wildlife clinic.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2015

Bar exam system needs reform

The system for choosing who writes questions for the bar exam is in need of a major revamp in light of the recent scandal involving a Meiji University professor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 29, 2015

U.S.-Japan environmental agreement on U.S. bases flawed, experts say

The new accord allows Japanese officials access to U.S. military bases in Japan to conduct environmental surveys, but experts question its effectiveness.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2015

FOIA documents reveal hot spots, fish kills and toxic dumps on Okinawa military base

Following an 18-month battle, the Pentagon has released records detailing serious contamination on Okinawa base land slated soon for return to civilian use.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2015

Abe, regional leaders use U.S. visit to showcase Japan

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, but he is also busy using the visit to promote Japan as the place to do business.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 28, 2015

With eye on succeeding Abe, Ishiba launches own LDP faction

Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight and current minister for regional revitalization Shigeru Ishiba launched his own faction within the ruling party Monday, with an eye toward succeeding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the party's next president.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2015

India should create its own Silicon Valley

Indian tech companies have focused on low value-added IT services rather than developing high value-added products. It's time for a change.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2015

Emissions bombshell stretches far beyond VW

The revelation that Volkswagen cheated for years on emissions tests raises a mammoth question: Who else did the same?
COMMUNITY / Issues
Sep 27, 2015

Legal change will make temp purgatory permanent for many Japanese workers

Eight years ago, a TV drama about temporary workers generated a great deal of excitement around Japan. In "Haken no Hinkaku" ("Dignity of a Temp"), model-actress-singer Ryoko Shinohara played Haruko Omae, a "super-temp" who masterfully tackled the myriad troubles that arose in her ¥3,000-an-hour job....
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 27, 2015

Conservationists angry as U.S. officials kill over 1,200 seabirds in Oregon

U.S. federal government officials have killed more than 1,000 seabirds on an Oregon island since May to protect endangered salmon as part of a plan that environmentalists say is flawed and are seeking to stop with a lawsuit.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 26, 2015

Abe government targets the liberal arts

Over the past several weeks I have received many emails from all over the world asking me if reports about government plans to pull the plug on humanities and social sciences departments at Japanese national universities are accurate or just a bad joke. At this point it's not clear exactly what the government...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2015

Laundry firm's flexibility cited as reason why single moms don't quit

Since joining the laundering company Kikuya in 1995, Akemi Hirayama says she has never missed a day of work.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2015

VW says reputation in Japan may take hit from emissions scandal

A diesel emissions scandal that hit German auto titan Volkswagen may not pose a direct threat to its Japanese operation, but the company is bracing for a hit to its reputation.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2015

Securing a sustainable future

The decisions taken this year, at the Sustainable Development Goals summit and at the climate conference in Paris in December, will have a lasting impact on our planet's future.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2015

Pope Francis remains flamboyantly fact-free

The pope's ideas would devastate the poor on whose behalf he purports to speak — if his policy prescriptions were not as implausible as his social diagnoses are shrill.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2015

Xi seeks to reassure U.S. on trade, security

Chinese President Xi Jinping, facing a skeptical audience on Tuesday, the first day of a weeklong U.S. visit, sought to reassure business and government officials over a long list of irritants, from economic reform to cyberattacks, human rights and commercial theft.
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2015

Onaga's challenge on Henoko

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga might lose the legal battle that's likely coming over his revocation of landfill approval for the Futenma replacement base, but Tokyo would be wise to consider the public sentiment behind his move.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2015

The Syrian crisis's tangled web

Syria is a tangled web of humanitarian, political and religious complexities that seem impossible to disentangle. Yet if solutions are not found the flood tide of refugees and human misery will only grow worse.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 19, 2015

Taiji drops anchor on dolphin hunts despite increasing pressure

On the harbor road heading east toward Tomyozaki Point, there is a moss-encrusted monument dedicated to an ill-fated whaling expedition in 1878. Facing fierce westerly winds, the fishermen released their catch, a right whale and her calf, and tied their boats together with nets to bolster defenses, but...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 19, 2015

Yakuza infighting puts nation on edge

Around the start of this year, the weekly magazines — Shukan Taishu, Asahi Geino and Shukan Jitsuwa in particular — were brimming with articles feting the centennial anniversary of the Yamaguchi-gumi, which had gone from being a small group of tough guys on the Kobe waterfront in 1915 to Japan's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 19, 2015

How grandma drives human evolution

Speak to professionals from various disciplines and you will notice something funny: Even when they are off duty, they tend to view the world through the lens of their professional background. For example, a psychiatrist at a dinner party might pause to think a bit about the possible neuroses of the...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb