Kurashi - News From Japan

Photo from Al in Kyoto  Found a sarcastic blog that points out how the city of Kyoto is doing next-to-nothing to reduce emmissions of green house gasses. Unfortunately, as Al in Kyoto points out, as a result of a lack of leadership from Central Government and from Japan's local territorial authorities, Japan's emissions have continued to increase. To date the Kyoto City and State Governments have failed to implement policies that would facilitate achieving any of the goals outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. They have, so far, only served to provide a useful example of how unwilling political leadership can stand in the way of moving toward actual reduction in C02 emissions. Thanks to Richard Evanoff at the International Green Network for the info!

Just as I was writing about air pollution and environmental problems in China, I found this news. It seems China is considering linking a special tax to engine emissions levels, and making sure car owners have to pay directly. This is an attempt to clean up the air in Chinese cities. The China Daily reported on Monday that under the new tax rules, the tax burden on cars with an engine capacity over 3.0 litres could be as high as 15 to 20 percent. At present, a 3 to 8 percent tax was paid by manufacturers before cars entered the market, the paper said. "Those who buy cars with higher emissions will be taxed more heavily," Feng Fei, director of the industry department at the State Council's Development and Research Centre told China Daily in an interview. A report released in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that of the ten most polluted cities in the world, seven could be found in China. Sulfur dioxide and soot caused by coal combustion are two major air p...

The chief of a delegation of Japanese lawmakers probing U.S. countermeasures for mad cow disease criticized the U.S. Agriculture Department on Saturday for pressing Japan to resume beef imports without trying to understand the sentiment of Japanese consumers. "They are telling Japan that U.S. beef is safe, so buy it, using only seller's logic, and they don't understand how Japanese, who are sensitive to food safety, feel about the issue," said Kenji Yamaoka, chairman of the House of Representatives Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee. Meanwhile, the debate in the US about food safety is also fierce... Click here to read more about the BSE debate in the US

Keitai photo  Well, it's Midsummer's Day in Sweden, and it is hot here in Saitama... 30 degrees... I'm posting a photo that Ruri took today with her mobile phone. That's me on the left, Ruri in the middle and her friend Juri from Finland on the right. They came by to talk Swedish and listen to some music. Ruri is lucky, she is going to Vasteras, Sweden for one year on a Rotary scholarship. Lycka till! Click here to listen to Swedish radio (webbradio)!

Square melon I feel passionately about food, and I think it should be as natural as possbile. So, when I hear about "square melons" I get a kind of creepy feeling. No way! The price is about 10,000 yen. Let's boycot this stupid product...

McDonalds in China According to People's Daily, fast food giant McDonald's was pressured recently in China to withdraw a new commercial which was found insulting to various consumers. The ad describes a Chinese man kneeling before a vendor and begging him to accept his expired discount coupon, but being refused. The advertisement goes on to say people don't have to worry about McDonald's coupons expiring, since their validity lasts for a whole year. Many cities which had showed the commercial stopped screening it on Tuesday, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Tianjin, Xiamen and Xi'an. "What a shame that the commercial portrayed Chinese consumers as willing bend to such a petty interest!" said a lady surnamed Yuan, who complained to a consumer's petition hotline. McDonald's China branch faxed domestic media a statement on Tuesday, saying it just wanted to be humorous.

Shanghai air  I'm reading about Lester Brown's report "Learning from China: Why the Western Economic Model Will not Work for the World" and, as usual, trying to think about our planet. Nuclear power is too risky, and oil is not enough. As for food, our oceans are overfished, farmland is lost to building bigger cities, and we just had a warning last night on NHK to save water. We are nearing the limits of Earth's capacity to support our current consumption patterns. Earth cannot provide America-like or Japan-like lifestyles for China's population. And what about - everyone else? Who will tell everyone: "Sorry, you cannot have what we have!" Here are some numbers, if you prefer that. Today, per capita GNP in the US and Japan is about $38,000 annually, while China's per capita GNP is about $1,000. China seems to want to reach the same level, using the same strategies, making the same mistakes. By 2031, income per person for China's projected po...