http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Earth_Continents_Japan_18_197_681.html Press Review of the Earth from the most relevant websites. Keep in touch with the Earth and your future ! fr-FR http://www.earth-stream.com/logo-stream-Earth.png http://www.earth-stream.com Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:55:01 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Saying-No-To-Genetically-Modified-Foods-In-Japan_18_197_681_134878.html No genetically modified crops are grown commercially in Japan, perhaps one of the countries in the world with the strongest consumer opposition to "unnatural" GM foods. Yet, Monsanto and the US government continue their shameless push for the stuff. Again and again, imported foods have been found to be contaminated with illegal GM varieties, including the infamous Starlink corn, that had not been approved in the US either (it was recalled and never heard from again). Now, a US government official is visiting Tokyo to seek Japan's "help to promote the safety of genetically modified crops among Japanese consumers," as a way to "ease t... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:31:04 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Japan-Ministry-May-Punish-Officials-Entertained-By-Rice-Traders_18_197_681_134875.html Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Oct. 3 Kyodo - The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Friday it is considering punishing 12 officials identified as wined and dined by Osaka-based Mikasa Foods and other rice traders. Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:20:23 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Nintendo-to-Release-New-DS-in-Japan-in-Nov-_18_197_681_134757.html Tokyo, Oct. 2 (Jiji Press)--Nintendo Co. said Thursday it will release a new model of the popular Nintendo DS portable video game machine in Japan on Nov. 1, which can take pictures and play music. Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:12:51 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Northrop-Grumman-Awarded-Contract-for-Tactical-and-Non-Tactical-Computers_18_197_681_134676.html Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems, Herndon, Va., is being awarded a $10,962,308 modification to previously awarded contract (N00178-04-D-1004), for engineering and other technical support for tactical and non-tactical computers, displays and peripherals for the Combat Direction Systems Activity, Dam Neck, Va.Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Va., (95 percent), Taiwan, (2.5 percent), and Japan, (2.5 percent), and is expected to be completed by Apr. Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:20:54 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Internet-auction-sees-256-000-Kyoto-offsets-sold_18_197_681_134504.html Reuters: A total of 255,592 Kyoto offsets were sold via online auction on Thursday, brokers and auction organizers CantorCO2e said. The offsets, issued by the United Nations and known as CERs, were sold for 19.05 euros ($26.57) each to four anonymous buyers, CantorCO2e said. "Demand for the CERs outstripped supply by a significant margin," CantorCO2e said in a statement, adding the auction attracted bidders from the United States, Japan, and nine European countries. Benchmark ... Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:55:59 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Nintendo-Beefs-Up-DS-Lite-s-Digital-Reach_18_197_681_134497.html The Japanese game maker adds features to position its popular two-screen handheld for the coming digital distribution revolution. Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:47:53 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/A-Great-Act-Living-Beyond-One-s-Means_18_197_681_134392.html (Photo from Blogtorira, a great act from an ancient Kagura performance) Frugal Green Living made some very important points here on Treehugger. The timing is perfect for change. In his interesting column, Financial Times' David Pilling talks to Chinese and Japanese finance experts, wondering if this is America’s chance to kick its Asian addiction. ... Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:30:20 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Japan-Melamine-Found-in-Imported-Chinese-Made-Egg-Cakes_18_197_681_134157.html Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Oct. 1 Kyodo - Major trading house Kanematsu Corp. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:22:53 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Omega-3-Fatty-Acids-May-Explain-the-Japanese-Paradox-Regarding-Low-Rates-of-Heart-Disease_18_197_681_134076.html DENVER, Oct. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:23:32 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Toshiba-Creates-Better-White-LEDs-With-New-Breakthrough_18_197_681_134038.html Photo via Oskay While LEDs create lovely lighting, one thing holding us back from fully embracing white LEDs on a big scale – big as in cities covered in LED streetlights, parking lots, industrial areas – is that they just aren’t as bright as CFLs or incandescents. But of course they’re a much greener option. Toshiba Japan has taken the conundrum to heart and has ... Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:50:30 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Bring-emerging-nations-into-new-Kyoto-goals-Japan_18_197_681_133822.html Japan has proposed emerging economies set mid-term targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to bring them into a structure of binding levels to combat global warming. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:34:40 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Showa-Denko-Hoya-to-Merge-Hard-Drive-Media-Biz_18_197_681_133735.html Tokyo, Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)--Japanese chemical maker Show Denko K.K. and optical glass maker Hoya Corp. will establish a joint venture to integrate their operations in recording media for hard disk drives, the two companies said Tuesday. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:09:42 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Slimming-Down-Flat-Screen-TV-Power-Use_18_197_681_133732.html LCD and plasma TVs are actually more efficient per square inch than those old-fashioned CRT screens. But that doesn't mean they consume less electricity. In fact, simply because they are, on average, so much more gigantic than old CRTs, they consume far more electricity. Your average 42 inch plasma TV will probably be eating up more power than your refrigerator over the course of a year's use. And that's just the use, nevermind all of the mining, packaging, processing and shipping that go into them before they arrive. But while manufacturers once competed only on price, size and contrast ratio, a fourth important factor is finally emerging among television purchase points: efficiency. GreenTechMedia was in Japan this week covering the Ceatec conference, where efficiency is being touted left and right. Sony had a 42-inch LCD TV from 2005 sitting next to a 42-inch LCD TV from 2008. The only difference: the 2005 one consumed 131 watts while the 2008 consumed 57 watts. And that's just the beginning. Manufacturers across the board are planning on slashing power consumption by their televisions. Sanyo hopes to reduce power consumption in their televisions by two thirds by 2011, and Sharp has a 26 inch LCD TV that consumes only 40 watts of power. All of this is great news for the environment, but also great news for me. I haven't yet bought an LCD TV.  Though I've wanted one for some time, the power requirements have been a complete deal-breaker for me. But now that they're getting into the range of your average light bulb (and reducing the vampire load) I'm getting pretty excited about my next upgrade. Via GreenTechMedia Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:55:39 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Double-Decker-BladeRunner-Rides-Roads-AND-Rails_18_197_681_133726.html There's hybrids...and then there's hybrids. And while this isn't the first time we've seen buses that can ride on train tracks (two years ago we wrote about these in Japan) but this is definitely the coolest concept we've seen. The Blade Runner (titles can't be copyrighted BTW) looks a bit like a semi-truck...a semi-truck built by a super-secret black-ops military operation that is. It was in fact designed by a British design company (Silvertip Design.) The bus itself is pretty cool, looking like a quite comfortable way to transport a LOT of people. If they could build some TVs into the headrests and give me plenty of headroom, I might actually consider the bus for long-term transit. But that's only half of the coolness of the Blade Runner. The most exciting possibility is that Silvertip hopes they've found a way to quickly and simply drive the bus onto some train tracks, and then have it become a train. The advantage, of course, being that trains are far more efficient than buses, but can't necessarily get to all the same places that buses can. This would probably be an excellent solution for commuter mass transit systems, but significantly less so for long-distance travel since the world's long-distance rail systems are already logistical nightmares. After adding the small trains to the mix only a super-intelligent, nation-wide, all-powerful computer could keep it all straight. Of course...then it would probably get angry that its funding wasn't increased and decide to blow up congress...I just don't think we're ready for that. Via AutoBlogGreen Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:27:47 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Honda-Planning-Hybrid-Motorcycle_18_197_681_133644.html Can a hybrid engine be shrunk small enough to fit within the very narrow confines of a motorcycle? Honda thinks it can do it and if I was going to bet $700 billion of taxpayers' money on that gamble, I would place the bet on Honda. The Japanese automaker says it is working on hybrid motorcycles and the first models could be on the market within two years. By 2011, Honda plans to take it even one step smaller and introduce scooters with hybrid engines. The problem with making hybrid motorcycles have been compacting all the components of a hybrid engine and making it efficient enough in such a small surface area that the vehicle can actually travel a decent distance. The first roll out with the motorcycle will be for engine displacements between 200 and 1,000 cc and Honda claims the hybrid motorcycles will be 50 per cent more fuel efficient. The automaker thinks production costs could be kept reasonable by using common components in its current lines of hybrid cars and motorcycles. Next will be the electric scooters ranging from 50 to 125 cc. The smaller electric motorcycles will only be able to run about 18 miles, or 30 kilometers, on one charge. Via Mainich News Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:16:59 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/NTT-Docomo-and-RIM-to-Launch-BlackBerry-Bold-Smartphone-in-Japan_18_197_681_133613.html NTT Docomo and Research In Motion have announced plans to launch the 3G/HSDPA BlackBerry Bold smartphone in Japan in early 2009. According to Research In Motion (RIM), its BlackBerry Bold smartphone leverages NTT Docomo's high-speed 3G and HSDPA networks. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:52:28 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Bring-emerging-nations-into-new-Kyoto-goals-Japan_18_197_681_133543.html Reuters: Japan has proposed emerging economies set mid-term targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to bring them into a structure of binding levels to combat global warming. 'Emerging economies should be engaged to the middle level binding measures, clearly not the same as those of developed economies,' Hiroshi Oe, deputy director-general for global issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a news conference. He was speaking after Japan submitted a list of proposals for a ... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:49:45 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Sanyo-s-Eneloop-Solar-Light-&-USB-Charger_18_197_681_133405.html Sanyo eneloop solar light We came across this nice little addition to the Sanyo eneloop solar family recently while browsing environmentally oriented electronics makers sites. Sanyo has been working hard to cultivate their green image with the eneloop series of rechargeable batteries, a big hit here in Japan, and thankfully for green geeks everywhere it looks like they will be continuing on this line. The Sanyo eneloop solar light attempts to combine the best of a solar USB charger and a portable 9-bulb LED light. Finally, something practical you can do with ... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:15:49 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Japanese-PM-Prioritizes-Extra-Budget-Likely-Delaying-General-Election_18_197_681_133358.html Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Sept. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:20:00 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Continents/Japan/Japanese-performing-dolphins-go-on-a-diet_18_197_681_133339.html Dolphins at a marine park in Japan are put on a new diet and exercise regime after piling on the pounds