WORLD WATER FORUM
The world is now facing a water crisis, including water shortages and water pollution. Japan will host the Third World Water Forum in March, at which it is hoped new efforts to solve water problems will be proposed and carried out.
(March 14, 2003)
SPACE RACE
With the successful launch of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 4 on December 14, 2002, Japan's rocket technology has taken a major step forward in establishing its reliability.
(February 21, 2003)
KEEPING TRADITION ALIVE
Kyoto has long boasted a number of traditional crafts that are both beautiful and original. The local board of education began implementing a program in October 2002 that enables students of the prefecture's elementary, middle, and high schools to learn about these crafts firsthand.
(February 20, 2003)
GREEN PLASTIC
Plastic is notorious for the harm it causes to the environment as a result of its resistance to biological degradation. But moves are afoot to render it into a less permanent substance.
(February 13, 2003)
THE BENEFITS OF SLOW FOOD
Bored with fast food and concerned about the disappearance of regionally distinctive dishes, people in Japan are waking up to the virtues of "slow food." One innovative approach to deepening children's knowledge of food has been through the school lunch program.
(January 20, 2003)
READING FOR ALL
Japan is seeing a growing boom in "barrier-free" picture books that can be enjoyed by all children - both those with disabilities and those without.
(December 9, 2002)
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
For the first time in the world, a robot the size and shape of a human has been built that can stand up and lie down on its own.
(November 21, 2002)
DOUBLE HONORS
The 2002 Nobel Prize for physics will be shared by Masatoshi Koshiba, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and two other scientists. The Nobel Prize for chemistry, meanwhile, will go to Koichi Tanaka, a researcher at Shimadzu Corp.
(October 31, 2002)
FARMING RICE WITH DUCKS
A method of rice farming that relies on ducks to eliminate insects and weeds has been in the news recently.
(October 22, 2002)
SPACE NOODLES
Instant-ramen maker Nissin Food Products Co. has teamed up with the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) to develop a type of instant ramen, called "Space Ram," suitable for use in a zero-gravity environment.
(September 24, 2002)
TOO HOT IN THE CITY
Efforts to alleviate the "heat island" effect are gathering momentum in Japan.
(September 2, 2002)
JAPAN'S ACADEMIC ABILITY
Public schools have all gone to a five-day school week, and the curriculum has been reduced by 30%. Some fear that the new style of education will result in a collapse in students' academic abilities, but academic performance in Japan remains at a very high level.
(August 26, 2002)
BRUSHING UP
Go to any bookstore in Japan these days and you are likely to see a number of different books aimed at demonstrating the beauty and charm of Japanese.
(August 15, 2002)
MAJORING IN MANGA
Kyoto Seika University offers courses on creating manga (comics), and it has recently been garnering attention for some of its unique undertakings in the area of manga education.
(August 14, 2002)
ROBOCUP
Homemade robots got the chance to try out their techniques in a competition known as RoboCup-2002 Fukuoka/Busan, which was held at the Fukuoka Dome on June 19-25.
(July 30, 2002)
WHAT TO DO ON A SATURDAY?
As part of measures aimed at giving students more room to grow, public schools are closed every Saturday now, whereas students previously had only two Saturdays off each month.
(July 18, 2002)
LIFE-SAVING ROBOT
With the aim of increasing the safety and efficiency of landmine removal, Japanese universities and research institutes have been actively looking into robotics as a solution to this deadly problem.
(July 5, 2002)
GETTING CONNECTED
Recently there has been a sharp increase in the number of middle-aged and older people who are using e-mail.
(May 24, 2002)
HOMEMADE ROBOTS
The production of homemade robots among amateur enthusiasts - including elementary school children - has been enjoying a boom. Amateur robot contests are being held in various places and are proving to be immensely popular.
(May 13, 2002)
A HONEYMOON ON THE MOON?
A special group of private citizens has been born that aims to make space travel a reality for ordinary people. The newly formed group hopes to bring the price tag down and is confident about sending people into space through the private sector by the year 2015.
(April 17, 2002)
THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE
The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) showed off the level of development of networked appliances in Japan when it set up a model IT house in Tama City.
(April 11, 2002)
NEW TALENTS ON THE LITERARY SCENE
Changes are rocking the literary scene. A high school girl has won a literary prize for emerging authors, and a man has written in the persona of a young girl.
(April 4, 2002)
SAY YES TO YEAST!
Replete with balanced amounts of all the amino acids, the vitamin B complex, and more than 30 other nutrients, brewer's yeast has been called "a gold mine of nutrition," and sales of health foods containing brewer's yeast have skyrocketed recently.
(March 5, 2002)
CHILD ENTREPRENEURS
To encourage the development of future business leaders and invigorate Japan's economy, schools and local governments have recently added entrepreneurial education to the curriculum and have been holding events to help kids develop their business skills.
(March 4, 2002)
TOWARD A TICKETLESS STATION
A new kind of train pass that includes an IC chip functions as a kind of electronic money. It is believed that this new technology may lead to ticketless, cashless stations in the future.
(January 8, 2002)
MOBILE PHONES TO THE RESCUE
Mobile telephones are used a lot by the young and by businesspeople as a means of communication. Research is now being carried out on using them to provide support for the elderly and the disabled in their daily lives.
(December 18, 2001)
DIGITAL LITERATURE
The availability of literary works in digital form is revolutionizing the study of literary classics and is even leading to discoveries that are overturning established literary theories.
(December 14, 2001)
MEGABYTES OF MICKEY
Tokyo DisneySea, a new theme park, opened adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland on September 4, and it has been attracting overflowing crowds almost daily, even on weekdays.
(December 3, 2001)
IT'S ONLY NATURAL
"Nature schools" give children an opportunity to commune with nature by taking part in various outdoor activities. The aim is for children to learn about personal relations through communal life and enhance their capacity to adapt to the environment.
(November 27, 2001)
SUSHI GOES HI-TECH
Sushi is known throughout the world as the quintessential Japanese food. Some pioneering restaurants in Japan have turned to technological innovation as a means of pleasing customers and producing profits.
(November 26, 2001)
JAPAN'S TENTH NOBEL LAUREATE
Nagoya University professor Ryoji Noyori, 63, and two Americans were named joint winners of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on asymmetric synthesis of organic compounds.
(October 29, 2001)
SHINY MUD BALLS
All across Japan, kids are making hikaru dorodango, or balls of mud that shine. Behind this boom is Professor Fumio Kayo of the Kyoto University of Education. Kayo sees in this phenomenon the essence of children's play. The mud balls could also offer fresh insights into how play aids children's growth.
(October 5, 2001)
DETERGENT-FREE WASHING MACHINE
Sanyo Electric Co. has developed the first washing machine in the world that can clean clothes without using detergent. The appliance has been a focus of consumers' attention since it went on the market in August, and Sanyo appears almost certain to achieve its annual sales target of 300,000 units.
(October 5, 2001)
OPEN SESAME
Voice-recognition technology allows machines to understand the words spoken by humans. There are already personal computers and car navigation systems that can be operated by voice, and work continues on the development of a system that will enable the user to control various appliances around the home from one location.
(September 14, 2001)
H-IIA READY FOR SPACE
The first of Japan's next-generation H-IIA rockets is scheduled to be launched from the National Space Development Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, on August 25, 2001. The large satellite-launch vehicle is mostly Japanese-made and will be the flagship of the country's rocket development program.
(August 20, 2001)
LIFELONG LEARNING
A thirst for new knowledge and skills is spreading among middle-aged and older people. Community computer classes everywhere are full to capacity, and there are waiting lists for some of the public lectures universities are putting on for adult learners. PC classes and public lectures are among the first businesses to exploit this trend. More and more new products and services linked to the mass generation's desire to learn look set to appear.
(July 25, 2001)
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