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July 01, 2026
 

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ENVIRONMENT

A stone quarry near Avinashi village in Rajasthan's Neem Ka Thana town on May 19
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 5, 2026
Mining turns India’s heat-shield hills to dust
A loss of the hills to mining is boosting already dangerously hot temperatures in New Delhi, raising the risk of desertification, and worsening health problems, experts warn.
Critics argue the Trump administration is using foreign pollution as a justification to relax smog regulations, potentially worsening air quality and public health in U.S. cities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2026
Blaming Asia and Mexico for U.S. pollution is absurd
President Donald Trump’s “Environmental Protection Agency,” a name growing more ironic by the day, is giving polluters some wiggle room.
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward has begun handing out ¥2,000 ($12) fines to litterbugs.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 2, 2026
Shibuya begins handing out ¥2,000 fines for littering
Patrol officers will now monitor the ward and collect the fine on the spot from anyone caught throwing away trash improperly, with cashless payments accepted.
Rising global temperatures, worsened by climate change, war, trade disruptions and a looming El Nino, are increasingly threatening global food production.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2026
The world’s food supply is under a quadruple attack
Heat makes it much harder to effectively grow crops, raise livestock and harvest fish, as detailed in an extensive new United Nations climate change report.
Catches of Japanese sandfish in Akita Prefecture have declined sharply, from over 10,000 tons a year in the mid-1970s to about 6 tons in the most recent season.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2026
Calls grow in Akita to ban fishing for sandfish amid warming seas
Some fishery operators have voiced reluctance about a fishing ban, fearing that such a move could prevent them from catching other fish and shellfish.
Tokyo’s push for cooler office attire has sparked backlash in Japan, where conservative workplace norms still shape office culture and critics say shorts and sandals do not belong in the workplace.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2026
Tokyo wants you to wear shorts to work. Say no.
While the image of the suit-and-tie salaryman endures, in recent years summer office fashions have become much more casual.
Philippe Bordarier, chief executive of nuclear operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), stands in one of the tunnels that is part of what is expected to be the world's first permanent repository for radioactive spent nuclear fuel at the Onkalo nuclear repository in Eurajoki, southwestern Finland, May 18.
WORLD
Jun 1, 2026
In Finland, radioactive spent nuclear fuel soon to be buried underground
With space for 6,500 tons of uranium, a new facility in Finland is aimed at providing permanent storage for spent fuel from Finland’s five nuclear reactors.
Royal Australian Air Force firefighters extinguish a demonstration fire using fluorine-free foam at RAAF Base Amberley in 2021. The Australian government said on May 28 that it had launched a $1.43 billion legal action against U.S. consumer goods giant 3M over the contamination of military bases that used firefighting foam containing so-called forever chemicals.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2026
Australia sues 3M over ‘forever chemical’ contamination near military bases
Canberra is seeking damages to recover the cost of managing environmental contamination at 28 military bases from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The coastline of Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu. A trust fund set up to help a South Pacific nation gravely threatened by climate change has invested in coal mining, gas exploration and the world's largest crude oil refinery.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2026
Fund for climate-exposed Pacific nation invests in fossil fuels
A trust fund set up to help a South Pacific nation gravely threatened by climate change has invested in coal mining, gas exploration and the world’s largest crude oil refinery.
A jawbone of Naumann’s elephant at the Murakami Kaizoku Museum in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 27, 2026
Naumann’s elephant may have gone extinct in Japan 10,000 years earlier than thought
Up until now, the widely accepted theory was that the elephant disappeared from the Japanese archipelago about 24,000 years ago.
Hideki Uyama, Japan's ambassador in charge of the 48th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in Hiroshima this month, speaks during a news conference in the city on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 22, 2026
Antarctic Treaty meeting in Hiroshima fails to reach accord
The impact of geopolitical rifts on the meeting could not be denied, Japan’s ambassador in charge of the gathering said.
The Environment Ministry aims to gain a better understanding of bear behavior in wide areas, as bears often roam across prefectural borders.
JAPAN
May 20, 2026
Japan to survey bear habitats in Niigata and Tohoku region
The government surveys aim to gain a better understanding of bear behavior in wide areas, as bears often roam across prefectural borders.
The Grand Ring, the symbol of the 2025 Osaka Expo in Osaka, is dismantled in March.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 20, 2026
Osaka Expo resources find new life across Japan
In line with its principle of a sustainable expo, the association hopes to encourage the effective reuse of materials and assets from the event.
An uncovered sandbar due to low water levels of the Mississippi River in Greenville, Mississippi, in 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 14, 2026
Why more intense bursts of rain are making the planet drier
Intense, concentrated rainstorms have been on the rise for decades. And those bigger storms turn out to have a counterintuitive effect.
A team of Japanese researchers has found that people who have suffered from heatstroke were twice as likely to develop cataracts.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 13, 2026
Heatstroke doubles risks for cataracts, Japanese study finds
The study by researchers at the Nagoya Institute of Technology is the largest one to show a possible link between a rise in body temperature and the condition.
There are more than 3,500 types of mosquitoes buzzing around the world, but only around 100 bite humans.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
May 13, 2026
Mosquitoes: bloodsuckers and flower lovers
The role that mosquitoes play in flower reproduction is far less studied than that of bees or butterflies.
An aerial view shows cattle walking on a tract of the Amazon rainforest that has been cleared by loggers and farmers near the Virola-Jatoba Sustainable Development Project in Anapu, Para state, Brazil, in 2019.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2026
How China’s evolving consumer habits may protect the Amazon rainforest
A pledge from a meat association in Tianjin to buy deforestation-free beef is challenging a long-held assumption among Brazilian farmers that China cares only about price.
Penguins are seen on an iceberg as scientists investigate the impact of climate change on Antarctica's penguin colonies, on the northern side of the Antarctic peninsula in 2022.
JAPAN
May 12, 2026
Emperor penguins in focus as Antarctic talks start in Japan
Officials from the nearly 60 countries signatory to the Antarctic Treaty are meeting in Hiroshima for annual discussions on protecting and managing the fragile region.
Batteries for electric vehicles at a Gotion High-tech Co. plant in Hefei, China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 12, 2026
China’s green tech firms target new consumers hit by Iran war energy shock
Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels have been wooing nations looking to wean themselves off costly fuel imports.
The nature guides and conservationists at Picchio Karuizawa focus on nonviolent interventions like collaring and tracking bears to keep the animals away from human settlements and oft-used hiking routes.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
May 9, 2026
Rising bear encounters test Japan’s approach to wildlife management
Government officials and nature guides say more countermeasures can reduce harm caused by rogue bears.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan falls in gut-wrenching fashion as Brazil strikes late to win World Cup clash
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli (right) shoots past Japan defenders Shogo Taniguchi (left) and Takehiro Tomiyasu to score in the second half of a match in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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