Read the rest of Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects’ New Green-Roofed Tokyo Plaza Features a Dizzying Kaleidoscopic Entrance

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Post tags: community table, green roof, green roof garden, Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co. Ltd, Japan, mirrors, multifunctional steps, NAP Architects, parks, public space, rooftop park, shopping area, shopping mall, Tokyo, Tokyu Plaza Omotesando, Urban design, Urbanism

Read the rest of Hiroshima’s Optical Glass House Hides a Secret Garden Behind its Glazed Façade

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Architecture, Botanical, Daylighting, glass, glass bricks, glazed facade, Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co. Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan, Optical Glass House

Offshore wind farms and tidal energy facilities harness the power of the wind and the ocean – but why should we have separate turbines for each task? Offshore technology company Mitsui is developing a hybrid wind-current power generating system that combines a floating vertical-axis wind turbine with an underwater turbine that generates power from ocean currents. The clever apparatus would cut down on material waste, and it could produce twice as much energy as a conventional wind turbine.

Read the rest of World’s First Floating Wind-Current Turbine to be Installed Off Japanese Coast

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Post tags: floating wind turbine, Hybrid wind and ocean current turbines, Japan, Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company, MODEC, ocean currents, ocean power, offshore wind, renewable energy, tidal turbines, vertical axis wind turbine

Read the rest of Fujiwaramuro Architects’ House in Hanoura is Surrounded by Artificial Hills and Breezy Rice Fields

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Post tags: Architecture, artificial hills, crossed ventilation, Daylighting, Fujiwaramuro Architects, green interiors, House in Hanoura, Japan, LDK, natural light, rice fields, rumble hills, rural house

Read the rest of Toyo Ito’s Daylit Odate Dome Shrugs Off Snowstorms and Monsoons in Japan

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Air quality, Akita Cypress wood, Akita Prefecture, Architecture, daylight, Daylighting, green materials, Japan, monsoon, Odate Dome, snow, teflon, toyo ito

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently announced that Japan may need more than 40 years to decommission the Fukushima power plant. The head of the IAEA clean up team, Juan Carlos Lentijo, said that the damage at the nuclear plant is so complex that it is impossible to predict how long the cleanup may last, and he has urged Japanese nuclear provider TEPCO to improve stability at the facility.

Read the rest of Cleaning Up The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Could Take Over 40 Years

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Post tags: Fukushima, fukushima clean up, fukushima nuclear disaster, IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan, nuclear disaster, nuclear energy

Read the rest of Tezuka Architects’ Amazing Fuji Kindergarten Wraps Around a 100-Year-Old Zelkova Tree

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Post tags: Air quality, Architecture, around a tree, Botanical, classroom, Daylighting, Fuji Kindergarten, Japan, Japanese design, natural light, Tetzuka Architects, Zelkova tree

Many of the survivor stories we have heard from the 2011 earthquake and and Fukushima disaster in Japan involve worrying levels of radiation – but now we have a happy fish tale to tell. A small fishing boat thought to have washed out to sea after the tsunami struck the coast of Japan has recently washed up on the Washington coast, and with it, a small striped beak fish that survived the 5,000 mile trip from Japan to the United States!

Read the rest of Japanese Tsunami Fish Washes up in Washington Alive!

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Post tags: Animals, Environment, fauna, fish survives tsunami, Fukushima, Japan, News, Oregon, radiation, striped beak fish, tsunami, tsunami fish washes up in washington, washington coast

A little over two years since a devastating earthquake struck Japan and triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Google has collaborated with the town of Namie-machi, which sits inside the Fukushima Prefecture, to produce haunting Street View images of the stricken area. In a guest post on Google’s blog, Namie-machi Mayor Tamotsu Baba explains that the town has remained untouched since the disaster, and its 21,000 residents unable to return due to high levels of radiation.

Read the rest of Google Launches Haunting Street View of Fukushima Exclusion Zone Two Years After the Disaster

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Post tags: disaster zone, earthquake, exclusion zone, Fukushima, fukushima daiichi, fukushima picture, Google, Google Street View, Japan, namie-machi, natural disaster, nuclear disaster, tsnami

A team of scientists from the Japan-based Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute just announced they have “successfully developed the first allergy-free cedar tree by altering the DNA makeup of the plant”. While this may be great news for allergy sufferers, the pollen-less ‘frankentrees’ have raised concerns over their impact on the environment.

Read the rest of Japanese Scientists Develop Pollen-Free Cedar Trees to Help Allergy Sufferers

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Post tags: allergies, allergy-free cedar trees, Cedar Tree, dna re-sequencing, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, hayfever, Japan, pollen count, pollen free cedar trees, pollen-free trees

Japan is faced with a number of challenges when it comes to domestic energy production – the country is the world’s largest importer of natural gas, and since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown it has greatly increased its purchase of fossil fuels. In order to find a local energy source, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has invested millions of dollars towards exploiting methane hydrate (also known as “flammable ice”) – and today they announced that they’ve successfully extracted it from the seabed for the first time. Methane is known to be an extremely potent greenhouse gas that is 20 times more damaging than CO2. If Japan taps reserves beneath the seabed, it could have catastrophic consequences for the environment.

Read the rest of Japan Successfully Taps ‘Flammable Ice’ as an Energy Source for the First Time

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Post tags: atsumi peninsula, canada, chikyu, china, Climate Change, CO2, drilling, flammable ice, fukushima daiichi, global warming, greenhouse gas, ice, Japan, methane, Methane Hydrate, north carolina, norway, ocean, seabed, south carolina

It’s been two years since the deadly earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan, destroying homes and triggering a nuclear disaster. Although the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent deluge killed thousands and leveled towns, there was one stark reminder of the planet’s resilience: an 88-foot pine tree that refused to succumb to the onslaught. It stood as the last remaining member of what was once a forest of 70,000 trees along the coast in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture. This week officials unveiled a massive sculpture that memorializes the special tree, and serves as a quiet reminder of nature’s power.

Read the rest of Japanese Town Memorializes Miracle Pine Tree That Survived the 2011 Tsunami

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Post tags: Art, conservation, earthquake, forest, Japan, memorial, miracle pine, natural disaster, preservation, sculpture, tsunami

Demolishing tall buildings is typically a loud and messy process that produces a lot of dust and not a lot of building materials that can be salvaged. But Japan’s Taisei Corporation is pioneering a new technique that preserves building materials and actually generates energy from the demolition process. The process, known as Ecological Reproduction System (Tecorep), uses huge jacks and an energy-generating crane to dismantle high-rises from the inside. Hit the jump to watch a time-lapse video of Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka slowly recede from the skyline.

Read the rest of New Skyscraper-Deconstruction Technique Harvests Energy from Demolition Process

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Post tags: building materials, eco-friendly demolition, Ecological Reproduction System, green demolition, Japan, noise pollution, rand Prince Hotel Akasaka, skyscraper deconstruction, skyscraper demilition, Taisei Corporation, Tecorep, Tokyo

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Post tags: coffins, comfort, efficient apartments, home, Japan, live small, micro apartments, relaxation, small homes, tiny apartment, tiny homes

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Post tags: antiques, birch trees, Daylighting, DIY, eco design, fantasy woodland, green design, Japan, Japanese minimalism, moody antiques, Onico Beauty Salon, osaka, Ryo Isobe, sustainable design, Urban design, woodland

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced today that Japan plans to begin restarting its idled nuclear plants later this year. All 50 of Japan’s nuclear reactors were taken offline after a meltdown occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following a devastating tsunami almost two years ago. In the wake of the disaster, Japanese politicians vowed to phase out nuclear power in favor or renewable energy, but the announcement today by Abe signals a change of course back to nuclear. The news coincides with a new report from the World Health Organization that cancer risks are 70 percent higher for female infants living near Fukushima.

Read the rest of Japanese Prime Minister Announces Plans to Start Bringing Nuclear Power Plants Back Online

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Post tags: earthquake, Fukushima, fukushima daiichi, fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan, japan nuclear, japan tsunami, japanese tsunami, nuclear, nuclear power plant, renewable energy, Shinzo Abe, tokyo electric power company

Thought your mom was harsh about finishing your meal? At least she didn’t charge you for leaving food on your plate. The Hachikyo seafood restaurant in Sapporo, Japan will fine diners for not eating every last morsel of tsukko meshi, a dish that consists of a mountain of salmon roe piled on top of a bed of rice. At around $20 USD, an extra fee might seem ridiculous, but there is a reason for such a penalty.

Read the rest of Japanese Restaurant Fines Diners For Not Finishing Their Meals

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Post tags: donation, fine, fishermen, hachikiyo, Japan, penalty, rice, salmon roe, Sapporo, seafood, tsukko mehsi

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Post tags: charred timber, Daylighting, Endo Shuhei, green design, Japan, Japanese design, minimalist design, Modern Homes, Rooftecture HH, Shisho City, sustainable design

As far as washing machines go, the pedal-powered GiraDora and the Laundry Pod are pretty small – but the new ultra compact Petit Laundry Swoosh can fit on a countertop! Designed by Japanese company King Jim, the washer uses just over a gallon of water to clean 250 g of clothing in 18 minutes. The device measures in at 29 x 29 x 44 cm and it’s perfect for small space living as it can easily fit inside a cupboard or cubicle for emergency laundering.

Read the rest of Ultra Compact ‘Petit Laundry Swoosh’ Washing Machine Cleans Clothes With Only a Gallon of Water

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Post tags: Compact, cubicle, efficient, giradora, Japan, king jim, laundry, laundry pod, petit swoosh, tabletop, washing machine, water issues

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Post tags: Endo Shuhei, green design, industrial chic, Japan, natural ventilation, oriented strand board, osaka, osb, Rooftecture OT2, skylights, sustainable design, sustainable timber, urban density, Urban design