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November 15, 2025
 

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ENVIRONMENT

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson attends the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2025
Ocean activist wanted by Japan vows to continue fight at COP30
Paul Watson, known for environmental activism and activities that disrupted whaling, has been wanted by Japanese authorities for 14 years.
An Indigenous demonstrator is held by security staff after protesters forced their way into the venue hosting the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Protesters force their way into COP30 summit venue and clash with security
Shouting angrily, protesters demanded access to the U.N. compound where thousands of delegates from countries around the world are attending this year's U.N. climate summit.
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a plenary session at the COP30 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, on Thursday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is skipping the event to focus on domestic political issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2025
Want to fight climate change? Fight ‘climate fatigue’
The public is concerned but disengaged in the lead up to this week’s U.N. climate meeting.
Kunio Komesu, a member of the Sea Turtle Association of Japan, at a beach in Ogimi, Okinawa Prefecture, in October
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 10, 2025
Sea turtle eggs in Okinawa being damaged by waves due to coastal erosion
If the erosion persists, the three types of turtles — which are listed on the Environment Ministry’s Red List of endangered species — might stop laying eggs there.
On Oct. 29, teams from 33 qualifying countries scoured the streets of Shibuya for all manners of trash as part of the Spogomi litter-picking competition.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2025
Cleanliness gets competitive at Tokyo’s Spogomi world cup
On Oct. 29, teams from 33 countries scoured Tokyo’s streets for discarded wrappers, crushed cans and cigarette butts.
After a peripatetic childhood around the world, teacher and artist Jon Homewood ended up coming to Japan in 2012 for a professional opportunity.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 8, 2025
Jon Homewood: ‘There’s beauty in what we throw away’
Using aluminum cans as his medium, the Tsukuba-based British artist creates intricate sculptures that take months or longer to complete.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and European Union President Ursula von der Leyen meet in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on Wednesday. Belem will host the COP30 U.N. climate summit from Monday through Nov. 21.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2025
Make COP30 about human welfare
In poor countries, parents are not kept awake by concern about achieving a 0.1 degrees Celsius temperature reduction in a century.
A photo of Typhoon Hinnamnor, captured aboard the International Space Station as the typhoon approached islands in Okinawa Prefecture, on Aug. 31, 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2025
French study says climate change-driven storms endanger flight safety
Storms have become more intense, producing stronger winds and often resulting in greater in-flight turbulence, the study found.
A rapid adoption of solar panels by homeowners in Japan has created new targets for aggressive sales tactics and outright scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Consumer watchdog warns of solar panel inspection scams
The number of homes equipped with solar panels has skyrocketed in recent years, creating new targets for aggressive sales tactics.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference to members of the international media, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), Val de Caes Naval Base, Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 5, 2025
Brazil's Lula promises 'COP of Truth' as U.N. warns of dangerously high emissions
Despite three decades of global negotiations, countries will not prevent warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius — the main goal of the Paris Agreement brokered a decade ago.
A partial view of one of the entrances at the City Park of the COP30, the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, taken on Tuesday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 4, 2025
Trees, targets and trillions: What’s on the agenda at COP30?
This year’s U.N. climate summit promises to be symbolic, marking a decade since the Paris Agreement and taking place in the environmentally vulnerable Amazon.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government issued a €300 million (¥53 billion) bond on Tuesday to fund flood defenses and other climate-related measures.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2025
Tokyo Metropolitan Government issues climate resilience bond
The money will be used to upgrade coastal protection facilities for the Port of Tokyo, develop sediment prevention facilities and enhance river flood resilience.
Protesters take part in a march in The Hague on Sunday to demand more action against climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 28, 2025
World far off track to meeting climate goals, U.N. warns
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that slow action from nations meant it was "inevitable" efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius would fail.
“Future Kid Takara,” a series of anime shorts to be aired on NHK Educational TV in November, attempts to educate children about climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Oct 26, 2025
Japan’s youth are apathetic toward the climate crisis. Could anime change that?
“Future Kid Takara,” a new series set to air on NHK Educational TV, aims to empower children and encourage them to take action against climate change.
New industry minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an interview at the ministry on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2025
Minister eyes stricter regulations on large-scale solar farms
Ryosei Akazawa has pointed out that improperly installed mega solar power plants pose challenges for local communities.
Workers in Okinawa oxidize a pool of indigo dye, one of many regional textile craft traditions examined in Charlotte Linton's new book.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 24, 2025
New book scrutinizes sustainability of traditional Japanese textiles
In “Dyeing with the Earth,” an Oxford research fellow examines how Japan’s age-old textile traditions sometimes run counter to modern ideas of eco-friendly processes.
People ride their motorbikes during rush hour in Hanoi in August.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 21, 2025
Japan warns Vietnam of job losses as Hanoi motorbike ban hits Honda
In July, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a directive prohibiting gas-powered motorbikes from entering the center of the capital from the middle of 2026.
Greenpeace activists hold signs reading "COP30 act for forests,” during the ministerial preparatory meeting, ahead of the COP30 climate summit, in Brasilia, Brazil on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 16, 2025
Trump’s team weighs COP attendance, but influence looms either way
Experts say whatever decision the U.S. makes, its action or inaction will have a major impact.
At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 13, 2025
Europe's bees and butterflies at risk, conservation body says
At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe compared to 77 in 2014, the IUCN has said.
A worker feeds shrimp in Pandeglang, Banten province, Indonesia, on July 29.
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 9, 2025
Indonesia says no to scrap metal after shrimp radiation scare
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said the pause aims to ensure that the local steel-recycling industry meets radiation safety standards.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Descendants in Philippines denied Japanese citizenship
As attacks surge, who can cull bears in Japan?
Police cars leave the Akita Prefectural Police headquarters to cull bears, in the city of Akita on Thursday.
Japan may triple departure tax to tackle overtourism
A plane takes off from Haneda Airport.
What would a ‘backup capital’ look like for Japan?
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought to get Osaka designated as Japan's backup capital.
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon
Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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