China & Japan: Just where are those islands in the sun?
Turmoil still bubbling up in China with the USA voicing concern and trying to avoid taking sides: Islands in the Rising Sun On Sunday, hundreds of Chinese protesters again faced…
Japan
China & Japan: Keep your eyes on these islands – there are more than goats at stake
There is a good chance that we will see violence erupt between a bellicose China and equally bellicose Japan over two small islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and…
Breasts squeezed for charity in Tokyo (VIDEO)
Oh, the things we progressives do in the name of charity! A charity “breast squeeze” orgy took place during the August 27-27 weekend in Tokyo as part of the “Erotica…
Fukushima—Japan’s remarkable mea culpa
There are mea culpas and there are mea culpas. The report by an independent commission on the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is a dandy. In the preface…
Now Will You Stop Killing Whales, You Bastards?
The Japanese supposedly go whaling for “scientific research” purposes. Hard to tell what they’re looking for. Maybe they’re exploring new ways to kill whales or the process by which they…
Japan’s Largest Solar Power Plant: 70MW
Japan is about to build a new solar power plant and it’ll their largest one to date. The country is trying to improve their power grid and make it more…
Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
“We can sum it up in one sentence: Our technical civilization has just reached its greatest level of savagery. We will have to choose, in the more or less near…
Saturday At The Movies
This ad is for a newly launched cell phone of NTT Docomo, the largest cell phone service provider in Japan. The shell of the new phone is wood from domestic…
Japan Develops Wind Turbine That Doubles Output
A simple addition to the standard wind turbine setup called a wind lens can double, or even triple, the power output. Professor Prof. Yuji Ohya of the Kyushu University research…
How Anne of Green Gables Destroyed the World
“Like most of you I was inclined to say the war was caused by fish.” However, after a close examination of the evidence, Cadman Michaels — who held doctorates in…
Will global civilization avoid collapse?
I consider myself a lucky man. I was born in the right place at the right time to enjoy what may well be the peak period of civilization. Never has…
Krugman and Summers: A Reading of the Munk Debate
What happens to the U.S. economy, as we all know, will affect Canada profoundly - which is no doubt why this Munk debate garnered so much attention here. The debate…
The Japanese Live Longest. Why?
A girl born in Japan today can expect to live to age 86. Japanese life expectancy has increased 30-years since 1947. A series of papers in the British medical journal,…
Fukushima—radiation damage that just won’t quit
I admit to a love-hate relationship with nuclear power. One day I am all for it because of the large amounts of relatively green power it can provide. I wonder…
The Evils of Commerce
In Sohunglo, Chugoku Prefecture, (just down the road from Hiroshima) the geisha house of Okiya Yumyum made the best of a bad situation by introducing the art of contortion to…
Japanizing the World Economy
This guest post is from PEF members Marc Lavoie and Mario Seccareccia, both of whom are full professors of economics at the University of Ottawa. The “Japanization” of the World…
Typhoon Heading for Fukushima?
A major typhoon is barreling toward Japan. Typhoon Ma-on is expected to make landfall around noon Sunday. It's path, shown above, indicates it will hit Tokyo and, just past that…
Masters of Japanese Gay Art Make Their European Debut
For the first time, the work of gay Japanese artists will be the subject matter of an exhibition in Europe. This new show, to be held at the Galerie Brugier-Rigail…
Railway Opens Tokyo’s Largest Rooftop Farm
JR East railway, one of Tokyo's largest railway operators, has opened a 535 sq.m. (5758 sq.ft.) rooftop farm on top of the company's Lumine Ogikubo Building. Part of a series…