Highlighting JAPAN

through articles

By featuring articles written by experts in many different genres, this online magazine provides people all over the world with information on modern Japan.

April 2009

The Rise of Eco-enterprise

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The Rise of Eco-enterprise

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As the potential of environmental business increases both at home and abroad, Japan is now redoubling its efforts to create new technologies and develop industries and businesses geared to tackling global environmental issues and stimulating economic growth. The Japan Journal reports.

The Low-carbon Society Must Be Sustainable

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Responses to global warming should not be treated as a mere policy issue, writes Kazuhiro Ueta, professor of environmental economics and public finance at the Graduate School of Economics at Kyoto University.

Roads Open for Electric Vehicles

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Keio University Professor Hisashi Ishitani considers the present state and future prospects of electric vehicles.

Innovate, Disseminate

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Jun Arima, deputy director-general for environmental affairs at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, elucidates the two approaches that Japan is taking to create a low-carbon society.

Cap-and-Trade: Does It Fit Japan?

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A trial implementation of an integrated domestic market for emissions trading-so-called cap-and-trade-commenced in Japan in October 2008. The Japan Journal investigates.

Carbon Offset Solutions

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Carbon offsetting has now commenced in Japan. The Japan Journal asked Professor Hironori Hamanaka, chair of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Board of Directors, for his views on the challenges ahead.

Time Now Ripe for Free Trade and Investment

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Waseda University Professor Shujiro Urata argues that Japan should take advantage of the present economic and diplomatic climate to strengthen its free-trade policies.

Energy Efficiency Polices of Japan

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Toshiyuki Sakamoto, director of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Division of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, explains the significance of the latest amendments to the Law concerning the Rational Use of Energy.

Life on Digital Earth

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The Japan Journal asked Professor Hiromichi Fukui about the work being conducted under the Digital Asia Project to address the environmental issues facing Asia and the world.

High Hopes for Research on Mt. Fuji

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Katsumi Asano, professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and chairperson of Valid Utilization of Mt. Fuji Weather Station, introduces some of the important research conducted in recent years atop Mt. Fuji.

Bonsai Branching Out

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Kunio Kobayashi opened Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in 2002 with "the ambition to spread Japanese culture, especially bonsai, in a new way to the rest of the world." Julian Ryall visits the Museum.

Saving the Sea Turtles of Yakushima

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The number of loggerhead turtles landing on the island of Yakushima to lay their eggs rose more than threefold year on year in 2008, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the volunteer organization Yakushima Umigame Kan. Nevertheless, the turtles' ecology is still under threat, as the NPO's head, Kazumi Omuta, reports.

Robot Assistants Coming of Age

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Isao Shimoyama, director of the Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative (IRT) at the University of Tokyo, details some recent breakthroughs in the development of robots that can support an aging, low birthrate society.

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