Search - 2012

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2008

Tough tasks on G8's agenda

Japan hosts a summit of the advanced industrialized nations' leaders for the fifth time from Monday to Wednesday. Leaders of the Group of Eight nations who gather in Toyako, Hokkaido, will discuss how to overcome major problems troubling the international community, such as global warming, steep rises...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Creation of low-carbon societies demands wholesale changes on national, global level

"In pursuit of Japan as a low-carbon society" was the theme of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's speech at the Japan Press Club on June 9. The following is an abridged excerpt from a translation of his remarks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jul 4, 2008

NGOs worried Africa will get short shrift

When the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama drew to a close May 30, Sayaka Funada-Classen, leader of a Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization, felt the years of engagement with the government had partly paid off.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 3, 2008

Humble Hoshi thrilled to make Olympic team

Although appearing in the Olympics was a goal to strive for, Natsumi Hoshi didn't expect that day would come this soon.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 3, 2008

Bold Kobe bares its teeth to show Olympic soccer is just not worth it

Clubs grumbling over international callups is nothing new, but Vissel Kobe's decision last week to deny Japan the services of striker Yoshito Okubo for the Beijing Olympics may prove to be a watershed moment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jul 3, 2008

Persistent Japan green tech leader

A technology that originates from an invention by Thomas Edison in the 19th century — a bulb filament made of carbonated bamboo — is now considered one of the keys to curbing global warming.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2008

Ramen makers eye wheat switch amid inflation

From dusk till midnight, office workers in suits and tourists in T-shirts crowd Fukuoka's open-air food stalls to perch on benches and slurp steaming pork-bone broth with thin, yellow noodles.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jul 2, 2008

Talks may heat up and go nowhere but global warming isn't waiting

Eleven of the 12 years between 1995 and 2006 ranked among the 12 warmest years since 1850, and since 1993 the global sea level has risen by an annual rate of 3.1 mm.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 30, 2008

U.N. chief calls for leadership on setting midterm emissions cuts

KYOTO — U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said Sunday that while long-term goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are important, it is more critical that a post-Kyoto Protocol treaty with midterm targets be concluded in Copenhagen by next year.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 20, 2008

Consensus elusive ahead of climate meet

Time is running out for Japanese diplomacy — and possibly for the future of the Earth, too.
EDITORIALS
Jun 16, 2008

Vying to be the Olympic host

Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro have been chosen final candidates for the 2016 Olympic Games. Japan's capital city has received the top rating in the International Olympic Committee's preliminary selection round, but this only marks the start of a long race. The climax comes Oct. 2, 2009, when...
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2008

Hazy emissions goal

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has shown his determination to lead the coming Group of Eight summit in discussions on climate change by announcing Japan's long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal. He also announced an "experimental" debut of emissions trading in Japan starting this autumn and a...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2008

Post-Kyoto regime should impose binding commitments on all: Rudd

KYOTO — On his first visit to Japan since taking office last year, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Monday for an ambitious post-Kyoto Protocol in which both developed and developing countries adopt binding commitments.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2008

Emissions trading test run by fall: Fukuda

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled his new climate change initiative Monday, including an "experimental" debut of greenhouse gas emissions trading in Japan starting this fall, and also voiced his support for introduction of daylight saving time.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2008

Hot air over global warming

HONG KONG — Fresh reports every day tell of glaciers melting, thinning polar ice triggering prospects of a scramble for the riches under the Arctic ice cap, worries about rising water levels inundating low-lying countries, and soaring oil prices.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 7, 2008

The case for the 'sectoral approach'

As hosts of this weekend's Group of Eight energy minister's meeting in Aomori Prefecture, delegates from Japan will be actively promoting the "sectoral approach" to curbing global warming.
BUSINESS / UK JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Jun 5, 2008

Japan's renewable energy drive runs out of steam

Japan could be left behind in renewable energy innovation unless it creates a large domestic market in this field, Ashley Seager, economics correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, warned in the May 23 symposium.
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2008

Emission-reduction targets

Environment ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations ended their recent meeting in Kobe by expressing a "strong political will" to agree at the July G8 summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, to reach a long-term goal of at least halving global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2008

Responsibility toward Africa

African leaders and their partners ended their three-day Yokohama meeting on African development not only on an optimistic note, underscored by the rather rapid recent economic growth in Africa, but also with awareness of problems the continent faces. These problems include infrastructure, population...
SOCCER
Jun 1, 2008

Mancini threatens legal action over firing by Inter

MILAN, Italy (AP) Two weeks ago Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini and team owner Massimo Moratti embraced on the field after a third straight Serie A title. On Friday, Mancini threatened to sue his former employer.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
May 30, 2008

With trip to 2010 World Cup on line, time for Okada to be assertive

If national team manager Takeshi Okada has learned one thing from his side's recent Kirin Cup matches, it must be to trust his own instincts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 30, 2008

Canceling Africa debt would be just: Bono

Canceling the debts of African countries "is not a matter of charity but a matter of justice" to efficiently eradicate extreme poverty on the continent, Irish rock star Bono said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2008

Use nature's bounty to ensure our survival

BONN — Farmers across Africa are engaged in an unequal struggle against a pestilent fruit fly whose natural home is in Asia. The fly, first detected in 2004 in Mombasa on the Kenyan coast, has since swept across the continent, decimating mangoes and other crops and devastating livelihoods.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2008

Nissan aims to up China unit sales 64%

Nissan is hoping to raise sales at its Chinese ventures at least 64 percent by 2012 as the country's surging economic growth boosts demand for cars and trucks.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji