JFS Newsletter No.128 (April 2013) Copyright PAX Coworking We are now living in an era when we can work anywhere, just by using our personal computers. Freed from "the office," people's working styles are...

JFS Newsletter No.127 (March 2013) Copyright Secretariat of AQUA SOCIAL FES!! Inhroughout Japan called "AQUA SOCIAL FES!!" (that's "fes" for "festival") is gaining the spotlight. At first glance, it seems there is little connection betwee...

JFS Newsletter No.105 (May 2011) Copyright Shibuya University Network Along with economic growth, most people have come to equate the "good life" with owning many things. While we live in an age where many can easily get what they wan...

JFS Newsletter No.104 (April 2011) On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquaketsunami waves up to 38 meters high struck the northeastern part of Japan, causing widespread devastation. As of April 11, a month after the disasters, the dea...

JFS Newsletter No.104 (April 2011) The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, an industry group of electricity providers, recently released its forecast on Japan...

JFS Newsletter No.98 (October 2010) Copyright A SEED JAPAN Bank by Citizens, fortizens -- NPO Bank While citizen's participation has been promoted these days in various fields such as the environment, finance is one of the fields that lag...

JFS Newsletter No.94 (June 2010) Introduction The earth is called the water planrth. However, the amount of freshwater available for human use as domestic or industrial water amounts to only about 0.8 percent of all water; most fresh wate...

JFS Newsletter No.93 (May 2010) Have you ever wondered what the level of food self-sufficiency is in your country? If you live in a place where food is abundant and agriculture i...

JFS Newsletter No.86 (October 2009) When the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won an outright majority in Japan's 45th House of Representatives election on August 30, 2009, the Libera...

Japan's District Heating and Cooling Systems JFS Newsletter No.82 (June 2009) Copyright Energy Advance Co. Introduction Most Japanese use air conditioners to live indoors comfortably thro...

JFS Newsletter No.81 (May 2009) Amid growing concern about food safety and the nself-sufficiency ratio, agriculture has recently attracted a lot of attention in Japan. Here we would like to give an overview of the current situation of the...

JFS Newsletter No.80 (April 2009) In our last issue, we introduced the initiatives of three of the Eco-Model Cities selected by the Japanese government in July 2008 - Yokohama City (Kanagawa), Toyama City (Toyama), and Shimokawa Tow...

JFS Newsletter No.79 (March 2009) In the last issue of our JFS Newsletter, we introduced the six Eco-Model Cities selected by the Japanese government in July 2008: Yokohama (Kanagawa), Kitakyushu (Fukuoka), Toyama City (Toyama), O...

Initiatives of the Japanese Government JFS Newsletter No.78 (February 2009) Selected 6 cities as of July 2008 Source: Cabinet Secretariat In February 2008, the Japanese government established the Panel...

JFS Newsletter No.77 (January 2009) Does the term "green IT" sound familiar? Reportedly, it was first used by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, initially in reference to reducing the amount of hazardous...

JFS Newsletter No.76 (December 2008) Car-sharing at a comdonium: Copyright ORIX Auto Co. Shifting from Car Ownership to Services and Functions In order to create a low-carbon...

JFS Newsletter No.73 (September 2008) The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect describes a phenomenon in which temperatures in urban areas are markedly higher than those in surroundi...

JFS Newsletter No.66 (February 2008) Agriculture has deep roots in the culture and traditions of Japan, and relatively recent in its history was essentially food self-sufficient. And yet, today this country...

JFS Newsletter No.64 (December 2007) Copyright Toyama Light Rail Co. The world's first electric tram line opened in Berlin, Germany, in 1881, marking the beginning of a long history ...

JFS Newsletter No.58 (June 2007) Citizen efforts and technical development are both important in tackling environmental problems. Establishing new, or restructuring existing,...