Search - environment

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2005

Asbestos death near plant reported in '86

Researchers found out at least 19 years ago that a woman who lived near an asbestos factory died of cancer following exposure to the carcinogenic substance, according to academic papers presented in 1986.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2005

The economy of plastic bags

A s this summer marks the 10th anniversary of the promulgation of the law for recycling containers and wrapping materials, the government is moving to strengthen the law to force a change in the behavior of consumers. The target is plastic shopping bags provided for free by supermarkets, convenience...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2005

A mind to reduce waste

Two jointly announced government white papers -- one on the environment and the other on the establishment of a recycling society -- are the first such annual reports since the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on global warming, went into effect in February following ratification by Russia in...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 26, 2005

Mining the Earth's problems for drama

'It starts with the Earth. How can it not?"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2005

Are dress codes key to global warming?

Just as a 1,000-km journey begins with a single step, it seems that the arduous process of reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions starts with the simple removal of a few neckties.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2005

Harnessing the power of dreams

Aichi Expo 2005, which opened Friday, differs significantly from previous world expositions. Its theme, "Nature's Wisdom," is the reason why. The six-month fair embodies two overarching principles: environmental friendliness and civic participation. The original construction plan was criticized for its...
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2004

Rationale for a carbon tax

Thanks to Russia's ratification, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming is set to take effect in February. The treaty requires industrially developed nations to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by specified degrees from 1990 levels in five years from 2008 to 2012. Japan...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Japan now has to get serious about greenhouse gases

When Russian President Vladimir Putin put the finishing touches on his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Friday, reducing greenhouse gas emissions also moved one notch higher on Japan's policy agenda.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Ministry proposes 2,400 yen per ton carbon tax plan

The Environment Ministry unveiled a carbon tax Friday to discourage use of fossil fuels and promote the use of energy-saving appliances so Japan can meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

Tokyo's 'heat island' keeps breezes at bay

Japan is unusually hot this summer. But Tokyo is hotter.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 29, 2004

Fear and loathing in the U.S. workplace

NEW YORK -- A friend wrote to say that a professor both of us know was summarily fired on charges of sexual harassment. Not long afterward it was found that the accusation had no basis, but by then it was too late. Our friend had moved out of the region with his family.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

Avian flu genes match South Korea's

The genes of Japan's avian flu virus are almost identical to those of South Korea's, the farm ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2003

Ministry blasts business opposition to carbon tax

A top Environment Ministry official lashed out Thursday at opposition by the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) to a ministry plan to introduce an environmental tax in 2005.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Young environmental campaigner has message for Japan

Since delivering a speech during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 at age 12, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has actively campaigned worldwide to raise people's awareness about environmental issues.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Nov 2, 2003

Food for thought

Yukio Hattori, 'one of Japan's busiest men,' takes time to chew over the issue of food and other meaty social matters with staff writer Masami Ito.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Homegrown chopsticks pitched in project to boost forest-thinning

"Waribashi," or disposable wooden chopsticks, are usually hated by environmentalists as a symbol of deforestation.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 9, 2003

The roots of national security grow under our very feet

For many policymakers, the concept of national security now simply means possessing the capacity for overwhelming destruction. Armchair warriors find such thinking reassuringly straightforward and comforting, a neat and tidy corollary of "Might makes right." It is also pure fantasy.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

METI pushes more robust framework on greenhouse gases

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released an interim report Friday on global warming, calling for a new framework that covers the majority of ozone-depleting greenhouse gas emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 27, 2003

Fears over U.S. environmental ambush

Considering that the United States spends more for its military than any other nation on the planet, you might imagine the Pentagon taking a few extra steps to protect the environment -- but you'd be wrong.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 9, 2003

Emphasizing the positive

Perhaps more than any other individual today, Junko Edahiro is striving to share Japan's environmental successes with the world.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 24, 2002

Getting up close and personal with global issues

While studying and researching in England several years ago, Eno Nakamura was surprised to find that Japanese and English children had strikingly different views of the future. That contrast convinced her of a critical need for Japanese schools to put more emphasis on "the future," and to get their students...
BUSINESS / ANOTHER LOOK
Sep 16, 2002

Outsourcing offers Japan Inc. a viable, new cost-cutting option

Regardless of the size of a company's operations, one of the most pressing issues for management is reduction of costs. With very low economic growth likely to continue for some time and deflation placing pressure on prices in many different industry sectors, management is being called upon to make more...
COMMENTARY
Sep 10, 2002

Making Japan's voice heard

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is doing a good job -- much better than expected. She has made few blunders since she assumed the post Feb. 1, aside from the trouble over the inept bureaucratic handling of the Shenyang Japanese Consulate incident involving North Korean asylum seekers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2002

Let there be light in the urban darkness

Naoya Hatakeyama's stunning photographs use finely tuned modern techniques to discover harmonious beauty in places where we often perceive only competing layers of chaos. They filter our all-too-familiar environment, revealing its underlying complexity and, in the process, leading us to question the...
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2002

Five species set to be added to nation's endangered list of flora and fauna

Five species are to be added to the current list of 57 endangered Japanese plants and animals on Aug. 2.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 21, 2002

Think aquatically, dive locally

Scuba diving in the waters of Palau, Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, Grand Cayman Island and the Red Sea certainly provides exciting and unforgettable experiences. I can say this with confidence because I have dived in then all.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami