V-cube Inc., a Japanese company that programs and develops web-based information technology, upgraded its system for video web conferencing and webinars (online seminars) in August 2008 by providing, the ECO Meter, a new online feature.

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Teijin Ltd., a leading Japanese manufacturer of polymer chemicals, have jointly developed a technology to dramatically enhance the energy conversion efficiency of a flexi...

Panasonic Electric Works announced on July 8, 2008, that it had successfully developed the world's first discharge-free lighting device using a nanocrystalline silicon cathode. The new technology, developed in collaboration with Professor Nobuyoshi K...

Japanese Retailer to Open Eco-Shopping Center with EV Battery Charging Station. Aeon Co., a major Japanese retailer opened a new style of eco-shopping center in Saitama Prefecture on October 2, 2008. The store has systematically incorporated the late...

JCB Co., a global credit card operator of Japan, started operating a platform for the Eco Action Point Program on June 20, 2008, commissioned by Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Having started offering services via the platform to customers...

Anjo City of Aichi Prefecture has been working to promote greenery on the city government's building since FY 2007. As the average temperature on the green-covered surface measured in FY 2007 was 1.5 degrees Celsius lower than that of other bare surf...

Experience grenades: You play them, and that's like pulling the pin on the grenade. Nothing has to happen right away. Nothing has to change or be solved right away. Then, you wait. It's later -- an hour later, a day later, a week later, a month later...

At Vision Summit 2008, in Berlin, Muhammad Yunus recounted some of the steps and experiences in attaining the level that Grameen ventures have today. Enjoy!

A group of volunteers in Japan that repairs toys and then redistributes them, mainly in Mie Prefecture, established the Mie Toy Hospital Network in April 2008. The group aims to coordinate activities between toy "hospitals" by supporting public relat...

+ Greenpeace Special Photo-Essay w Audio Comment [6min]

+ Thousands of tons of e-waste – such as discarded PCs, mobile phones and TVs - are dumped in Africa and Asia every year.

+ Some of this waste is exported to Pakistan, and causing massive env...

Viable solutions for 10 million tube wells contaminated with poisonous arsenic

Afghan Journalist Zakia Zaki started Peace Radio, the only independent radio station in Parwan Province, based an hour north of Kabul, covering women's issues, human rights, education and local politics. Zakia was murdered on 5 June 2007. Slain by gu...

Shorebirds such as sandpipers and plovers that migrate to Japanese tidal flats and wetlands have decreased sharply in number over the past 20 years, according to a research paper published by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Japan on World Wetland...

Afforestation using seed-enclosing clay balls has produced results better than expected! Not only did the seeds in the clay balls germinate, but also dormant native seeds were activated as a result of the environmental change.

Red LEDs contribute to longer lamp life and energy savings. As of January 2007, a 90 percent success rate has been achieved.

Endangered species wilderness restoration projects are usually located in areas remote from human habitation. But an ongoing project in Toyo-oka City, Hyogo Prefecture, is novel in that it is trying to restore an entire rural region where people and ...

Japan has appointed model regions to apply a variety of available hydrogen solutions in public spaces, thus taking the entire region a step closer into the future. The government, businesses and universities are all cooperating on manifesting the "hy...

China's rapid transformation period is enabling amazing break-throughs. While politicians and citizens of the world keep avoiding the key challenge of transforming our resource-depleting cities into sustainable organisms, China takes the necessary st...

Italy and Japan are literally paving the way for innovation in the road building and maintenance industry. Traditionally, energy used in the production and placement of asphalt has had a negative impact on the environment. But now, new techniques tha...