Kurashi - News From Japan

PV EXPO 2008 is presently going on at Tokyo Big Site through tomorrow (Friday). This is the world's first international photovoltaic power generation expo with 301 participating companies from 17 countries. In addition to the PV panels themselves that one would expect to see at such an event, there are exhibits of the equipment and components used to manufacture and install them. The latest technologies are being demonstrated such as thin film systems which can be applied to any surface, and transparent panels which can be used as a window. Japan - Land of the Rising Sun - is the world's leader in PV applications. " The photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules market in Japan, estimated to be 640 Megawatts (MW) in capacity or 209 billion yen in value of shipment, will rapidly grow to 2,350 MW or 665 billion yen in value in fiscal 2008 by recording an average growth of 30 to 40% every year ". This in a marketing report "New Energy System Market (PV Power System...

I got a question a while back about plastic recycling rates in Japan. Now, that is not an easy question at all, dear readers. Why? Well, for one thing there are many different types of chemicals in that group - plastic. If you paid attention during your High School chemistry class, you know that some plastics are actually called polystyrene foams . So, you go shopping. You need some steak, maybe fish, or some vegetables? Styrofoam is that bubbly, light tray you carry home your food on: probably made of styrofoam plastics. Since the 1930s, when I.G. Farben found out how to mass produce styrofoam, we have had just about enough of the stuff. According to wikipedia, cities that have banned polystyrene include Portland, Oakland, and Santa Monica. Wow. In Japan, about 70% is recycled. Great. Well done. Not bad compared to other countries. However. The rest? Not so great. Landfills, maybe. Dumped by a road, ending up in a river, maybe sayonara in the Pacific Ocean . Styrofoam plastic won...

Why Not Article 9 , the Japanese movement to introduce Japan's peace clause to the world, has opened a webshop . Get their cool "Number 9" t-shirt. The "Global Article 9 Conference" will be held in Tokyo, Japan, in May 2008. This conference will bring together the voices of the world supporting the existence and principle of Article 9. It will bring together Nobel Peace Laureates, intellectuals, cultural figures and NGO activists, and provide a forum to discuss what the citizens of the world can do to realize the principle of Article 9, through promoting disarmament, demilitarization and a culture of peace. It will aspire to create an international movement for realization of "peace without force." The holding of such a conference will be a concrete step in materializing the aim confirmed at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999; "Every Parliament should adopt a resolution prohibiting their government from going to war, like the Japanese a...

Below is a Picasa Collage with photos I took yesterday at the event in support for Article 9, the peace clause in Japan's Constitution. Lots of people from Peaceboat , The Japanese NGO that sends a ship around the world with volunteers. Sadly, I learnt that they will not be able to go to Kenya this year, because of the troubles there. Good news: Peaceboat has recently opened a US office - near the UN Headquarters in New York City. Get involved . Peace Boat’s first voyage was organized in 1983 by a group of Japanese university students "as a creative response to government censorship regarding Japan’s past military aggression in the Asia-Pacific". They chartered a ship to visit neighboring countries with the aim of learning first-hand about the war from those who experienced it and initiating people-to-people exchange. Peace Now Korea Japan was formed in 2003 by young people in their 20s and 30s who share the common goal of wanting "to bring peace to the Korean peni...

After reading Martin's February 19th post about Oisix - an organic food retailer - we checked out their website (here: Oisix ) and placed an order. This morning our box of food arrived at our door. Our sampler shipment included an orange, 2 carrots, komatsuna (mustard spinach), a bunch of naganegi (small Japanese leek), celery, dashi, lotus root, Bunashimeiji mushrooms, six eggs, four small packages of tofu, 500 ml of milk (my significant other, "K", will drink that), and some pork (which we gave to K's parents). All organic of course, and we're impressed with the freshness and high quality. Looking through the printed brochures that came in the box is easier for me than trying to find my way around their website (I can't read Japanese), but K can do the online ordering for us. Out here in Kashima City, finding organic produce is a hit or miss thing, unless one is willing to spend an hour traveling by car to get it. Oisix offers a wide variety and I am ...

From The StormRiders Blog .

I will show four of my oil paintings as part of the ARTicle 9 Festa vol.3 this weekend in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. The event is in support for the peace clause in Japan's Constitution. This time, the event is scheduled on the date when the Peace Walk for the Global A9 Conference starts. 「peace x art = eARTh」 ------------------------------------------ Date: February 24, Sunday 18:00 （DOOR OPEN） 18:30 （EVENT START） Venue: Shimokitazawa Alley Hall 2-24-8, Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Shimokitazawa Alley Building 3F 3 minute walk from Shimokitazawa Station Live Music / Art / Fashion / Video / Photography Global Article 9 Campaign Article 9 of Japan's Constitution is a strong and clear promise to the world by Japan, particularly to the people of the Asia-Pacific, who suffered terribly under Japanese aggression prior to and during WWII, that "we will never repeat such a tragic mistake." ...