Tag - animal-tracker

 
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July 27, 2024
 

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ANIMAL TRACKER

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 13, 2008
Black-headed gull
Japanese name:Yurikamome
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 23, 2008
Common kingfisher
Japanese name: Kawasemi
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 9, 2008
Cave cricket
* Japanese name: Kamadouma * Scientific name: Atachycines apicalis * Description: A hump-backed insect with huge hind legs and long, sweeping antennae, the cave cricket is easily recognizable. It is brown, wingless, and the body is 3-4 cm long. The hind legs, with the femurs shaped like chicken drumsticks,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 26, 2007
Giant water bug
*Japanese name: Taikouchi *Scientific name: Laccotrephes japonensis *Description: Also known as water scorpions and "toe-biters," these are ferocious, tough insects with strong, sharp front legs for catching prey (and biting toes or fingers) and a beaked hypodermic-type mouth with which they stab...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 12, 2007
Wasp spider
* Japanese name: Naka-koganegumo * Scientific name: Argiope bruennichii * Description: You wouldn't really mistake this spider for a wasp, but its egg-shaped abdomen is dramatically striped in yellow, black and white, and the legs too are striped, though the overall pattern is perhaps more tigerish...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 28, 2007
Osprey
* Japanese name: Misago * Scientific name: Pandion haliaetus * Description: A distinctive, magnificent bird, with a wingspan of 180 cm, a body up to 60 cm long, and pure white underparts. The top side of the body is a deep brown, the head is white with a masklike stripe over the eyes that drapes onto...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 14, 2007
Rosy bitterling
* Japanese name: Tairiku baratanago * Scientific name: Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus * Description: A small freshwater fish in the carp family, native to Taiwan, the rosy bitterling grows to some 6.5cm long. It's a pretty thing, with a flat silver body touched with green behind the head, blue on the sides...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 24, 2007
Little red damselfly
* Japanese name: Beni-itotonbo * Scientific name: Ceriagrion nipponicum * Description: The clue's in the name: This insect is small (just 35 mm long) and red — although the females, which are a slightly duller orange, or even brown, don't sport the vivid vermilion of the males. The four wings...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 10, 2007
Freshwater blue goby
* Japanese name: Ruri-Yoshinobori * Scientific name: Rhinogobius sp. * Description: Gobies have a slender body with a rather large head, bulbous eyes, fleshy cheeks and a full-lipped mouth, giving them something of a cartoon appearance. Males have shining bright blue spots on their cheeks and body....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 26, 2007
Horned turban shell
* Japanese name: Sazae * Scientific name: Turbo cornutus * Description: One of the most prized of all marine gastropods, the horned turban shell — more familiar to sushi aficionados as sazae — has a large, thick, green-gray shell and a snail-like body. The shell has about five spirals, which...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 12, 2007
Carp
* Japanese name: Koi (Nishiki-goi) * Scientific name: Cyprinus carpio * Description: A big, colorful fish, with large scales and barbels (those are the "whiskers" growing down from the upper lips). They can grow to well over a meter in length, and live for more than 15 years. They are related to other...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 22, 2007
Spot-billed duck
* Japanese name: Karugamo * Scientific name: Anas poecilorhyncha * Description: A medium-sized, mainly gray duck that has a pale head and a black bill with a bright yellow tip. At 60 cm long, and with mottled "scaly pattern" plumage, it looks and sounds similar to the more familiar mallard, but the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 8, 2007
Mountain slug
* Japanese name: Yamanamekuji * Scientific name: Incilaria fruhstorferi * Description: Growing up to 20 cm long — bigger than a baby's arm — this is surely no slug, but a monster; a specter from a Hayao Miyazaki movie come to life. If you see one, be prepared to photograph it next to your...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 25, 2007
Carpenter bee
* Japanese name: Kumabachi * Scientific name: Xylocopa appendiculata * Description: A large, stout, noisy insect, the carpenter bee spooks most people when they see one. It should not spook any reader of this column, though: the bees are mostly harmless. In fact, males are completely harmless, and females...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 11, 2007
Rock swallow
* Japanese name: Iwa tsubame * Scientific name: Delichon dasypus * Description: The translation of the Chinese name for this bird is smoky-bellied hair-leg swallow. It is also known as the Asian housemartin. It's a small bird, some 12-cm long, and is colored a dark steel-blue above and is white —...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 27, 2007
Soft-shelled turtle
* Japanese name: Suppon * Scientific name: Pelodiscus sinensis * Description: This is a medium-sized turtle whose carapace (the upper part of the shell) grows up to 25-cm long, and is colored olive, gray, or mottled pale green/brown. It has a long head with a pointed snout and bulging eyes, giving it...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 13, 2007
Buchi salamander
* Japanese name: Buchi-sansho-uo * Scientific name: Hynobius naevius * Description: This is a lizard-like animal growing from 8 to 15 cm long, including the tail. Also known as the blotched or spotted salamander, it is dark brown with a purple tinge, and has blotches of silver and white spots over its...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 23, 2007
Mitten crab
* Japanese name: Mokuzu gani * Scientific name: Eriocheir japonica * Description: A curious-looking crustacean, colored light brown or olive green, the mitten crab does indeed appear to be wearing a furry pair of gloves, with dense tufts growing on the claws, which have white tips. Adults and large...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 9, 2007
Four-spot midget
* Japanese name: Hinuma itotombo * Scientific name: Mortonagrion hirosei * Description: "Four-spot midget" is an odd name for an insect, but in this case it is entirely accurate. This is a tiny animal, just 25-mm in length with four distinct spots on the top of the thorax. Males and females are the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 25, 2007
Oil beetle
* Japanese name: Hime tsuchihanmyo * Scientific name: Meloe coarctatus * Description: A handsome (at least I think so) shiny black beetle, with long legs and an elongated body, which unusually has short elytra (wing covers) that expose most of the abdomen. In most beetles, the hard wing-cases completely...
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Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

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As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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