Japan has one of the highest installed renewable energy capacities in the world. The country is also one of the world’s largest consumers of energy. Lacking its own fossil fuel resources, it relies on imports for nearly all of its supply. This dependence on imports makes the country vulnerable to …
Global plans to curb carbon dioxide are well below what's needed to keep temperatures from rising above 2 degrees according to a new analysis. It is the work of researchers from the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a consortium of research institutions. They examined the commitments already made by governments to …
SENDAI – Residents of three Miyagi Prefecture towns selected as candidate sites for hosting a permanent nuclear waste disposal facility barred the entry of Environment Ministry officials seeking to visit to carry out survey work on Monday. Local residents in the towns of Kami, Kurihara and Taiwa stalled the government …
The number of Japanese nuclear reactors likely to restart in the next few years has halved, hit by legal challenges and worries about meeting tougher safety standards imposed in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a Reuters analysis shows. The country has been inching back to nuclear energy, turning on …
An increase in thyroid cancer among children is unlikely after the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant four years ago, but it remains unclear exactly how much radiation children in the vicinity of the plant were exposed to, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said in a report released on Monday. …
Fatal traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians and cyclists occur most frequently between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., a National Police Agency study has found. The study found between January and June the number of people aged 65 or over who died in traffic accidents rose 12 from a year earlier …
Illegal online trade in furs and specimens of endangered animal and plant species has been rampant, prompting police and related authorities to bolster their countermeasures. The police have acted on 23 cases since last year, but this is believed to be only the tip of the iceberg. A tiger pelt …
Passive smoking raises the risk of periodontal disease for nonsmoking men by about 3.1 to 3.6 times, compared with men in smoke-free environments, according to a survey by Japanese researchers. A research team led by the National Cancer Center and Tokyo Medical and Dental University conducted follow-up dental checkups between …
Japan will see mostly average to warmer weather from September to November, the official forecaster said on Tuesday. Eastern Japan, including the most densely populated Tokyo area, will have a 50% chance of higher-than-average temperatures for the period, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in its monthly three-month forecast.
FUKUSHIMA – Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday approved a plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to take contaminated groundwater continuously flowing into the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and dump it into the ocean after removing almost all radioactive materials from it. The plan is one of Tepco’s …
KOBE – Police raided the headquarters of Japan’s largest yakuza syndicate Yamaguchi-gumi on Tuesday after 14 workers at a waste disposal plant in Kobe, western Japan, became sick after treating waste from the building early this month. The police said the incident was attributable to toxic gas in the waste, …
At least 75 people have been injured and a 70-year-old man is missing after a powerful typhoon wreaked havoc across southern Japan, causing widespread disruptions to flights and train services, power outages and the evacuation of more than 200,000 households. Japan Airlines was forced to cancel about 130 flights and …
A global scheme meant to keep atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) levels in check instead caused some 600 million tonnes of excess emissions, researchers said Monday. They blamed a loophole in the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism which allowed countries to earn and sell credits for emissions cuts which were …
Typhoon Goni, which battered Okinawa and was over the East China Sea on Monday, was poised to make a landfall on Kyushu on Tuesday morning, prompting the Meteorological Agency to warn of violent winds and high waves. The weather agency also alerted residents in Shikoku and western Japan that there …
Japan is considering extending around ¥1 trillion in official development assistance to Africa over three years from 2016, a Japanese government source said Thursday. The government would announce the financial aid toward the next round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the source said. Japan and African …
Many of the world’s plants are turning “alien”, spread by people into new areas where they choke out native vegetation in a worsening trend that causes billions of dollars in damage, scientists said on Wednesday. The invaders include water hyacinth from the Amazon, which has spread to about 50 nations …
National Treasury Cabinet secretary Henry Rotich and the Japan International Cooperation Agency will today sign a Sh3.2 billion health sector loan for the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage, JICA Kenya office has said. The CS will also sign the exchange of notes programme with the Japanese Ambassador to Kenya, the …
Japan’s environment minister will submit to the country’s industry ministry an objection over plans for a 1.07 gigawatt (GW) coal-fired plant to be built by Chubu Electric Power Co. Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki has been pushing back on the growing use of coal to generate power after the Fukushima nuclear …
People living near Sakurajima Volcano, 31 miles from Sendai nuclear plant, have been told to evacuate the area after a government alert was raised to the second highest level. More than 800 tremors have been detected from the volcano, according to the Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatory. Around 77 residents were …
Japan's environment minister will submit to the country's industrial ministry an objection over plans for a 1.07 gigawatt (GW) coal-fired plant to be built by Chubu Electric Power Co, NHK public TV said on Friday. Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki has been pushing back on the growing use of coal to …
The Sendai Nuclear Power Plant on the island of Kyushu broke a four-year lull on 11 August when it switched one of its reactors back on. The restart is the first since Japan’s nuclear-power industry ground to a halt two years ago following safety concerns in the wake of the …
