July 31, 2025 Kanon Kito Osaka-Kansai Expo, started in April 2025, will focus on big global issues like climate change and aging. Its theme is “Designing a Future Society that Shines with Life.” It sounds exciting and full of hope. Recently, however, the organizers announced that pets would not be allowed inside the Expo site. This leads us to an important question: If animals that live closely with us are left out, can we really call it a society of coexistence? They’re Part

October 24, 2024 Rino Furuya and Kanon Kito Silk, once accessible only to the wealthy, is now attracting interest from Generation Z and seniors as an enabler of a more sustainable future. Can silk, which began to be used 5,000 years ago and has been patronized as the “queen of fibers,” become a part of our lives and a means to a sustainable world? Growing Environmental Awareness Across Generations People's concern for environmental issues is gradually increasing, with the mos

April 9, 2022 Mizuho Kakiuchi There are many famous sceneries in Japan. For example, Mt. Fuji, the historic cityscape of Kyoto, and the skyscrapers of Tokyo. However, Japan’s cityscape is not only like that. One of the sceneries that you often see in Japan is that the many houses are densely adjacent to each other. This landscape is deeply related to the history of Japan and is often seen in urban areas of Japan, but various problems have been pointed out. "Wooden densely bui

April 21, 2022 Ayaka Shoji There are 1.4 million tons of wasted clothes in Japan. Recently, there has been a boom in used clothing in Japan. Buying used clothes could be one of the ways to reduce apparel wastes. The twelfth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, an agenda for global community set in 2015 by the United Nations, is “the responsibility to make and use.” This article will focus on the responsibility to make and use clothes. However, it is not an easy thing to

April 21, 2022 Yuna Inoue In Japan, the birth rate has been decreasing and depopulation is progressing. To solve this problem, a lot of local municipalities have been integrated. However, local people are sad to lose their hometown because they feel their culture fades away. Not only adults but also children are worried about that. Current Situation in Japan Japan has been faced with the serious concerns of rapid aging and a very low birth rate. Moreover, local areas in Japan

April 8, 2022 Minami Takamatsu Japanese Beech, a indigenous tree in Niigata Prefecture has created a new market in the traditional furniture industry. Niigata faces the Sea of Japan and there is a heavy snowfall area with an average of 462 cm in winter. A program called Snowbeech Project utilizes the Japanese beech in the sustainable way. The project team, led by Tomohiko Kamitani, a professor of forest ecology at Niigata University, consists of craft writers, architects, and

June 15, 2021 Akari Odagiri and Nao Kazuma ESG investment is an investment activity that takes the factors related to the environment, society, and corporate governance into consideration. This activity has been expanding worldwide in recent years, but it is not widely known in Japan. Especially, it is unfamiliar to young people. How will the ESG investment have an impact on our future? Mr. Toshikazu Hayashi, a chief analyst of the ESG investment promotion department at the

July 31, 2020 NATSUHA AKIYAMA To counter COVID-19, Fujitsu group, a Japanese information and communication technology giant, has started many supportive services for free including offering it’s intellectual property rights for free. Freeing 40,000 Patents To Counter COVID-19 The medical crisis is becoming a great issue by COVID-19 and the vaccine and yet drugs for the terrible virus are not innovated. Fujitsu has suggested to supply it’s patents under the project of Open COV

July 26, 2018 Mamiko Yuasa Even though the Paris Agreement had set up from 2 years, however, the supply of primary energies occupy fossil fuels more than 90% in Japan (see Figure 1.). This country had Great East earthquake on March 11, 2011, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had broken. Japan were taken the place to the fossil fuels and have a plan to create 40 new fossil fuel facilities. The reason why, other country labeled Japan as “an environment developing countr