Read the rest of Ryue Nishiziwa’s Gorgeous Vertical Garden House Takes Root in Tokyo

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Post tags: "living wall", Climate Change, CO2, community, Daylighting, eco design, eco-conscious, eco-friendly, Environment, environmental design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green interior, green living, green space, green technology, home design, innovative structure, Japan, living home, natural light, open floor plan, open space, organic building, outdoor integration, renewable energy, rooftop garden, Ryue Nishizawa, ryue nishizawa vertical garden, SANAA, sustainable design, sustainable living, Tokyo, tokyo architecture, tokyo home, urban planning, vertical garden, vertical garden home, vertical garden house, zen living

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Post tags: Architecture, Daylighting, eco design, green design, Japan, japanese architecture, natural ventilation, setback regulations, sustainable design, tiny houses, Tokyo, tower, Unemori Architects

Japan has suffered through 2011′s devastating tsunami and earthquake and in the wake of the clean-up, the country wants to be clear – their legendary textile mills have made a comeback.  Fukushima Senkou, a low impact yarn company that uses eco-friendly dyes, was adversely affected by the natural disasters but still able to participate in the inaugural Japanese Textiles Trade Show, organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in New York City on Thursday.  Click ahead to read about the show and how companies like Fukushima Senkou persevered.

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Post tags: Dan Sakurai, eco friendly textiles, eco textiles, eco-fashion, Ethical Fashion, Fukushima Senkou, green fashion, Japan, Japanese Textiles Trade Show, JETRO, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, Sustainable Textiles, tsunami

Despite the rush to get reactors back online and convince the public that Japan’s nuclear power generation facilities are safe, an advisor says the current checks of nuclear reactors in the country are “insufficient” and possibly unsafe. Hiromitsu Ino, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo told the press yesterday that the Japanese government is using the same system to check the status of nuclear reactors now that it did before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last spring. The testing system was blamed in part for the crisis – critics say it didn’t go into enough detail on what would happen in case of a multiple-front natural disaster. This isn’t the first time the Japanese authorities have been called into question while handling the post-disaster situation; in December they announced a very controversial “cold shutdown” of the Fukushima nuclear reactor even though experts worldwide spoke out against the decision.

Read the rest of Advisors in Japan Say Post-Disaster Nuclear Checks are “Insufficient”

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Post tags: "clean energy", fukushima daiichi, fukushima daiichi safety tests, fukushima safety test, green power, Japan, japan nuclear safety, japan nuclear tests, japan safety tests, nuclear and industry safety agency, nuclear energy, nuclear power, renewable energy

Read the rest of Japan’s House C is Covered with a Swaying Wildflower Prairie

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", earthquake proof home, eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green roof, green roofed home, hiroshi nakamura, hiroshi nakamura & NAP, house c, Japan, prairie, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Small businesses and homeowners in Japan sold an amazing 2,150 gigawatt hours of solar energy back to utilities last year – a figure that shows a fifty percent increase since 2010. The surge in solar is thanks to a plan by the Japanese government to push the private installation of solar panels to power homes and feed the grid. Japan’s 10 regional power companies spent a whopping $1.2 billion purchasing the clean energy from consumers this year.

Read the rest of Japanese Homes and Business Sold 2,150 Gigawatt-Hours of Solar Energy Back to the Grid in 2011

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Post tags: "solar energy", energy in japan, Japan, japan energy, japan green energy policy, japan nuclear, japan renewable energy policy, japan sustainable energy policy, Japanese, japanese electrical grid, japanese solar energy, solar array, solar energy in japan, solar in japan, Solar Policy, solar tarrifs

Researchers have released the worrisome results of a study showing that there is a 70% possibility of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hitting Tokyo in the next four years and a whopping 98% possibility that it could happen in the next 30 years. It has been almost a year since a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the coast of Japan and took the lives and homes of thousands of people, and to prevent the same widespread damage from happening,  Japanese scientists have been working hard to predict the foreseeable future of another quake. But as you can see, the prognosis is not an optimistic one.

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Post tags: earthquake news, earthquake research, earthquakes, Japan, japan disaster, japan news, japanese research, news, predicting earthquakes, quakes, research news, Tokyo, tokyo earthquake research, tokyo news, tsunami, world news

Following last year’s nuclear disaster in Fukushima, there has been a great deal of public concern over the contamination of local food sources and water and now, newly constructed buildings can be added to the list of radiation fears in Japan. A three-month-long survey of students in Nihonmatsu City turned city officials onto the presence of high levels of radiation in one recently built three-story apartment complex. Concrete used to construct the building included broken pieces of stone quarried from Namie Town, a condemned area near Fukushima reactor number one.

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Post tags: earthquake, Environment, Fukushima, fukushima radiation, green design, infrastructure, Japan, japan disaster, japan radiation, japan radioactive building, nihonmatsu, nuclear, nuclear power, radiation, renewable energy, tsunami

Japanese brand Bunaco uses environmentally friendly techniques to produce finely designed home products from ribbons of beechwood. Founded in 1956 in the Aomori region of Japan, Bunaco uses an innovative artisanal process to create stunning shapes with wood that would otherwise be unusable. We caught up with Bunaco at the Tohoku to the Future exhibition during Tokyo Design Week.

Read the rest of Bunaco Creates Striking Eco-Friendly Housewares From Strips of Beechwood

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Post tags: "green furniture", bunaco, bunaco bowl, eco design, green design, green housewares, green materials, green products, Japan, japan earthquake, sustainable design, sustainable housewares, tohoku, tokyo design week, tokyo designer’s week, tokyo designers week

Read the rest of “Outside In House” by Takeshi Hosaka Brings Nature Inside with Lush Garden Floors

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Architecture, Eco Architecture, eco design, eco homes, family homes, green architecture, green design, green homes, Homes, Japan, japanese architecture, outside in house, sustainable design, Sustainable Homes, Takeshi Hosaka, Takeshi Hosaka Architects, yamanashi

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Post tags: "living wall", code kurkku, containers, Daylighting, green garden, Japan, lounge, music bar, shinichi osawa, takeshi kobayashi, Tokyo, urban development, urban retreat, vertical garden, wonderwall, yoyogi village

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Post tags: "sustainable development", Daylighting, eco design, Green Building, green design, Hiroshima, Japan, Kimihiko Okada, natural ventilation, Perched on Stilts, residence, small footprint, sustainable design, Toda House, Wraparound House

The sun set on the disco era decades ago, but polyester is still just as prevalent as ever. Roughly 40 million tons of polyester fiber is produced worldwide each year, and studies have linked some of the chemicals used in conventional polyester to testicular atrophy and early breast development. So we’re excited to learn that scientists at Toray Industries in Japan have developed samples of the world’s first renewable, bio-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber, which is what polyester is made of. The discovery could open the door to the production of a new type of polyester that is both better for the environment and safer for people.

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Post tags: bio-based clothing, eco textiles, eco-fashion, Japan, polyester, renewable resources, science, Toray Industries

Read the rest of Sou Fujimoto’s House N Captures Sunlight and Fresh Air in a Series of Nested Boxes

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, house, house n, house within a house, inside out house, Japan, natural daylighting, nested house, Oita, Sou Fujimoto, sou fujimoto architects, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Organic Japanese Shell Residence Wraps Around a Centenarian Fir Tree

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Architecture, fir tree, green interiors, green lighting, green materials, green resources, Japan, japanese forest, locally sourced wood, long-lasting concrete

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Post tags: cantilever, eco design, green design, Hansha, Hansha Reflection House, Japan, Minimalism, mortice and tenon, natural light, natural ventilation, Sklim, Sklim Studio, sustainable design

We all know how important our undergarments are in our daily lives but did you know they could provide a totally different kind of support than what you’re used to? Yesterday, PACT unveiled its new holiday collection of men’s and women’s skivvies featuring Yves Behar’s Japanese wood block-inspired prints. The philanthropic underwear company will be donating ten percent of the proceeds from each pair of boxers, briefs or panties to Architecture for Humanity, who will use the money to rebuild an entire village in Japan that was almost completely destroyed in this past March’s disasters. So if your underwear drawer could use a refresh, or if you’re looking for affordable stocking stuffers that won’t end up going to waste (undies are one thing everyone needs), head on over to PACT and pick up a pair or five for a great cause!

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Post tags: Architecture for Humanity, eco-fashion, eco-friendly underwear, eco-friendly undies, Ethical Fashion, fashion philanthropy, green fashion, Japan, organic cotton, pact, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, sustainable underwear, sustainable undies

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Post tags: Daylighting, EANA, eco design, green design, Japan, Minimalism, rock climbing, shinagawa-ku, skylight, small footprint, sustainable design, vertical

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Post tags: "green wall", eco design, green architecture, green bike parking garage, green design, greenery wrapped building, ivy wrapped bike parking lot, ivy wrapped building, Japan, Japanese green building, osaka, sustainable design, vertical garden

We are so excited to learn that the amazing Toilet Bike Neo has completed its poop-powered 870 mile journey across Japan! Earlier this year, top toilet maker Toto unveiled their talking three-wheeled motorcycle, which includes a much laughed-about but only decorative toilet seat, as part of their plan to half their company’s carbon emissions by 2017. The motorbike is fueled by a combination of household sewage and livestock waste converted into an ecologically-friendly biogas that is stored in tanks at the back of the bike!

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Post tags: biogas, eco design, green design, green transportation, Japan, LED lights, livestock waste, NEO, poop, poop power, sewage, sustainable design, talking bike, toilet bike neo, toto