A small truck named COEXIST, run by 28-year-old Keita Sugawara, sells sustainable products made in Japan. He has built and mounted a wooden mobile shop on the back of a pickup truck, using timber from forest thinning in Tokyo, to showcase eco...
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...
More than one third of those aged 70 and 74 are still in the workforce (and more than half of the age group between 65 and 69), mostly engaged in low-paid part-time assignments. It is not uncommon to see the elderly in their 70s still working hard...
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...