Energy efficiency has become a common theme in urban planning. Combining it with nature-driven designs and materials can enhance the resilience of buildings to climate change, owing to their temperature- and moisture-regulating effects. Wooden...
Japanese temples and shrines have stood for hundreds of years, weathering typhoons, snowfalls and scorching heat days. The elegant clay tiles known as “kawara,” adorned with intricate decorations, have graced rooftops for 1,400 years...
Even in the 18th century, Tokyo, or the old “Edo,” was the largest city in the world with a population of around one million (London was next, with 630,000). Lords and noble samurai families lived in spacious houses with gardens around the Edo...
The Japanese are long known for working hard and long hours. We do not take long vacations. Many of us remain at desks beyond office hours, partly because everyone else does and partly because there is too much work to do. The shrinking population...
It is heartbreaking, and yet so common, to see old men in the 70s manning construction and car parking sites in Japan, waving traffic control lights in blue uniforms and apologizing to passing-by pedestrians for the inconvenience, even under the...
The most inspiring academic conference I’ve attended was the “Scientific Society for the Life Circling Town of Minami-Sanriku” in Miyagi Prefecture on November 23, 2023. I joined 120 participants, a mix of researchers from various...
What is a Zero-carbon National Park? There are 34 national parks in Japan, covering about 5.8 % of its land, many of which include UNESCO World Heritage sites. Some of them are now going carbon-free, upgrading visitor centers, hotels and other park...
A soak in warm mineral waters has been the source of relaxation across difficult cultures, whether thermal baths in continental Europe or Japanese onsen hot springs. We now know that a stroll in the nature can also be therapeutic, for both our minds...
A childhood friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27. She was single, and after surviving surgeries, chemotherapy and other treatments, she said to me: “I guess I need to give up on the idea of getting married and having...
A number of businesses, startups and nonprofit groups are engaged in cleanup operations, but here is a superhero – Japan’s Ultraman – to the rescue as well. From samurai to Ultraman Masahiro Suzuki was born in Miyagi, not too far from the Pacific...