Japan

Coal climbs back into the conversation at U.N. climate talks

The dirty fuel that international climate scientists say the world should abandon has a rebirth at Katowice’s COP24.

So you want to carbon offset that vacation. Here’s what you need to know

Are carbon offsets too good to be true?

This restaurant fines customers who waste food

It’s harsh, but this policy is both eco-friendly and humanitarian.

Giant monster sushi is as big as your head

These are not "sustainable food," to say the least.

After not seeing one for 33 years, Japanese government finally declares river otters extinct

When you truly love somebody that’s gone missing, you never admit that she’s gone, even if you’ve seen neither hide nor hair of her for 33 years. So now we know how the Japanese government feels about the Japanese river otter. Because the Ministry of the Environment just declared the river otter, last spotted in […]

These fruit-shaped bus shelters make public transit more delicious

Waiting for a bus is never the most fun part of a commute, but if you lived in Isahaya City, Japan, you could at least pretend you were some kind of magic bus-riding mouse in a fairy tale. Bus shelters in the city are sculpted and painted to look like giant fruit.

Boy, I sure could go for some battery-powered air conditioner pants

Is that a tiny air conditioner in your pants, or do you just feel lukewarm about me? These cargo pants from Japan have a built-in battery-powered fan that sits in an exterior pocket, blowing cold air on the outside of your thigh. This is maybe not the most effective option, since ideally you want to […]

Japan turns reactors back on — but bulks up on solar

Two big announcements offer a mixed picture of how the nation plans to meet its energy needs.

Tsunami debris on the West Coast could be ‘far worse than any oil spill’

Last year’s tsunami in Japan threw 1.5 million tons of debris into the ocean. It’s starting to show up on the West Coast — a soccer ball here, a motorcycle there, a 66-foot, 165-ton dock. According to the Associated Press, more might be coming. Or it might not. But when the debris arrives, if enough […]