Japan's Climate Research Articles

Kishida's Climate Policy and Opportunities for U.S.-Japan Cooperation

executive summary: This essay summarizes key trends and drivers in Japan's climate policy, with an emphasis on the acceleration of commitments and policies that has taken place during the Suga and Kishida cabinets, and reviews the policy implications. main argumentJapan's climate policy development has been dominated by a technocratic policy triangle that includes the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; politicians within the dominant Liberal Democratic Party; and industry. This triangle has generated cautious policymaking characterized by gradualism and a focus on the long-term viability of existing industrial assets. However, the acceleration of climate policy under the Suga and Kishida governments of the last two years has been driven by political leadership in response to both competition in East Asia and overtures from the Biden administration. Most crucially, Japan's stepped-up commitments include a comprehensive vision of economic and energy security that views the current competition over green technology in the Indo-Pacific as crucial for future economic competitiveness. Under the Green Transformation (GX) strategy, industrial policy is back. policy implications • Energy security and industrial competitiveness are driving the new Japanese approach to climate policy. In the context of a tighter geopolitical environment in the Indo-Pacific area, this approach opens more avenues for cooperation with key allies and partners. • The Kishida cabinet is emphasizing several key policy sectors: solar energy, nuclear energy revival, ammonia and hydrogen innovation in combination with continued clean coal use, and electric vehicles. • Japan's climate policy approach will have a strong focus on innovation, competition, and industrial renewal, focusing as much on the supply side as the demand side.

A case study on the effects of the wind catcher and Taiko-shoji in Japanese environment-friendly house

ABSTRACTRecently, people around the world have actively made efforts to conserve energy in residential homes as a countermeasure against global warming. The awareness of the importance of energy saving has continued to grow in Japan since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. The interest in cross-ventilation for air conditioning energy saving in summer is especially increasing. Japan's climate features high temperatures and humidity, and it is a country in which people used cross-ventilation in their homes during summer and the middle season earlier. However, due to changes in modern society, including the progress in air-conditioning facilities, the focus on an environmentally conscious house design was lost. Therefore, studies about cross-ventilation have not been conducted in recent years. This study reconsidered the value of Japanese traditional houses and evaluated the effect of the planar-shaped house in cross-ventilation. It also surveyed the heat-insulating effect of a Taiko-shoji that was developed from an ordinary shoji screen used in Japanese traditional houses. The results show that a skylight opening increased the cross-ventilation air volume and that the shape worked effectively as a wind catcher without any special equipment. Moreover, the study found that the installment of a Taiko-shoji had a significant effect on heat insulation in summer and winter.

The Challenge of Climate Change and Energy Policies for Building a Sustainable Society in Japan

This article assesses Japan's climate change policy to provide insight into the debate on sustainable societies within environmental sociology, which is contested on one side by Ecological Modernization (EM) theory and on the other mainly by political economy perspectives. Overall, this study finds that Japan's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol is unlikely to lead to a greening of the economy and lifestyles. Consistent with the claim made by EM critics, Japan's climate change policy has negative environmental and social ramifications. Japan's attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by switching its primary energy source from fossil fuels to nuclear power is likely to increase the uneven distribution of nuclear risks between rural and urban areas. The promotion of nuclear power to secure increasing energy demand instead of reducing energy consumption has also contributed to a worsening of the urban environmental problem known as urban heat island.

A review of wind energy activities in Japan

AbstractBy 2012, Japan must cut down on its annual emissions of greenhouse gases by 6% from 1990 levels. However, greenhouse emissions increased by 6.4% in 2006. More effective responses to reduce greenhouse gases are required. Attention is currently focused on increasing the use of renewable energy, and wind energy has received a lot of attention. The national target for wind power capacity in the year 2010 is 3000 MW; however, there are many barriers to the development of wind energy. Japan's climate differs from that of the European Union countries. It often experiences typhoons and lightning strikes because of its meteorological characteristics. Wind has a stronger turbulence level due to the complex terrain. Furthermore, power fluctuation of wind causes power system problems because of issues related to the grid connection. Many endeavours have been made to find the best solutions for these problems. This paper reviews the wind energy activities in Japan, including wind resources, market trends, environment, prospects and research and development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Polar Regions Give Cold Shoulder to Theories

Tsukuba, Japan—Climate models have predicted that the first effects of global warming might show up in the polar regions, but researchers are having a hard time coming up with solid evidence.

Fungal contamination of oil paintings in Japan

Japan's climate, with several months of high temperatures, and high humidity, is well suited to the growth of various kinds of fungi. They grow not only on food, wood, and textiles, but also on paintings. We have examined a variety of instances of deterioration caused by the growth of fungi on paintings and have isolated and identified more than a hundred of these fungi. Of these, the typical ones are Alternaria, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Trichoderma and Penicillium. Since 1982 we have studied a fungicide-containing varnish to test its ability to inhibit fungal growth. The varnish, made from synthetic resin containing Vinyzene, a fungicide, was sprayed on about 100 paint samples. Annual observations have confirmed that it has a fungicidal effect. This paper reports on the effect of the Vinyzene-containing varnish on paint and its utility as a fungicide.

The Formation of Mass-logue in Japan

A pattern of communication prevailing in one age reflects the world outlock or spirit of that age. We cannot assume that speech act as one pattern of oral communication has been universal throughout man's history. Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the greatest educators in the Meiji period, pointed out that he could never find the Japanese equivalent to “speech” in English, and stressed that the art of public speaking be cultivated for the development of modern democracy in Japan. The pattern of oral communication in which a speaker addressed a large crowd was imported to Japan from China in ancient times. This pattern of communication, however, became diversified under the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism, both of which dominated Japan's climate. The practice of reciting passages of classic texts, for example, was the pattern of communication unique to Japan deriving from Confucianism. The common method of teaching at Japanese Buddhist temples was for a teacher-priest and a few of his studentdisciples to enact a play concerning the doctrine of Buddhism in the question-and-answer form before other student-disciples. It was something like a panel discussion of today. In the medieval age of Japan the pattern of communication called Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi in which a preacher recited, sang melodiously, or acted out Buddhist stories before a large crowd, was developed. In order to distinguish between such Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi and “speech”, the author proposes to introduce a new concept, “mass-logue”. Mass-logue, defined as the pattern of oral communication in which one speaker addresses a large crowd of people, has the following three characteristcs :(1) Mass-logue must not have elements other than those those expressed only by words. In other words, it must exclude such elements as singing and dancing. (2) Mass-logue is one-time communication. In other words, it is conceived and performed only once by the speaker and is never repeated in exactly the same form. (3) Mass-logue is one-way communication. The author believes that a comparison between mass-logue as an ideal type and Sekkyo and Kodan as historical facts will lead to a fresh approach to analysis of some aspects of the behavioral pattern of the Japanese people.