Food & Drink Sep 24, 2020
Mobile honey-making tradition lives on in Japan
by Takuya Kojima
Migratory beekeepers have seen their numbers dwindle, but many remain committed to their traditions.
National Sep 17, 2020
The Environment Ministry believes the insects came from overseas, rather than being born locally.
World | FOCUS Aug 31, 2020
Millions of beetles are wiping out forests around the world
by Jen Skerritt
Due to climate change, trees are more easily attacked and killed by the insects, in turn impacting forests' ability to absorb carbon and emit oxygen.
Language | BILINGUAL Aug 25, 2020
What bugs me most about the summer
by Kaori Shoji
It's summertime and that means the sounds of cicadas and the bites of mosquitoes.
General Aug 11, 2020
Beetlemania: Japanese collectors pay high prices for big bugs
by Andrew McKirdy
The nation's love of stag and rhinoceros beetles has flourished during the pandemic, with families driving demand.
National / Media | BIG IN JAPAN Jul 18, 2020
Overindulging at home and playing the online ratings game amid a pandemic
by Mark Schreiber
One man reportedly left as many as 18 empty wine bottles and four large empty sake bottles out to be recycled each week during the pandemic.
Food & Drink May 26, 2020
A Tokyo ramen restaurant with a twist: Broth made from crickets
by Harumi Ozawa
In a steamy Tokyo kitchen, a roasted scent wafts through the air as Yuta Shinohara prepares soup stock for ramen, derived not from pork or chicken, but crickets. "In this pan, we have 10,000 crickets, making stock for 100 bowls," Shinohara explained, as he stirred ...
National / Media | BIG IN JAPAN May 23, 2020
Rats, bugs, crooks and trucks share media spotlight amid pandemic
by Mark Schreiber
With city dwellers around the world in lockdown, increasing reports have surfaced about wild animals infiltrating urban areas. Tokyo is no exception, although "wild" isn’t quite appropriate in this case. As a sanitation worker in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward relates to Shukan Gendai (May 16), "From ...
World / Science & Health Feb 13, 2020
Decoding the meaning of their dance: Scientists spy on booty-shaking bees to help conservation
We have long known honeybees shake their behinds to communicate the location of high-value flower patches to one another, a form of signaling that scientists refer to as "waggle dances." A group of U.S. biologists have now decoded the meaning of over 1,500 of these ...
World / Science & Health Nov 13, 2019
Ten ways climate change as 'accelerant' can make wildfires worse
Wildfires such as those raging across eastern Australia have become more common across the world in recent years. AFP talked to scientists about the ways in which climate change can make them worse. Other factors have also fueled an increase in the frequency and intensity ...
National Oct 21, 2019
Japan's government to take steps to prevent fire ants from settling
The government Monday decided to take steps to prevent poisonous foreign fire ants from settling in Japan. "A situation totally different from the past has been confirmed," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a meeting of relevant ministers. "The government will join forces to prevent ...
Environment | OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK Jul 28, 2019
Will our insects keep on disappearing?
by C.W. Nicol
With concern, but little surprise, I read an article by Daphne Rousseau in The Japan Times on July 2 about a mass extinction of insects in Krefeld, Germany, near the Dutch border. There, based on a study going back almost 30 years, entomologist Martin Sorg ...