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July 01, 2026
 

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Critics argue the Trump administration is using foreign pollution as a justification to relax smog regulations, potentially worsening air quality and public health in U.S. cities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2026
Blaming Asia and Mexico for U.S. pollution is absurd
President Donald Trump’s “Environmental Protection Agency,” a name growing more ironic by the day, is giving polluters some wiggle room.
Rising global temperatures, worsened by climate change, war, trade disruptions and a looming El Nino, are increasingly threatening global food production.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2026
The world’s food supply is under a quadruple attack
Heat makes it much harder to effectively grow crops, raise livestock and harvest fish, as detailed in an extensive new United Nations climate change report.
Catches of Japanese sandfish in Akita Prefecture have declined sharply, from over 10,000 tons a year in the mid-1970s to about 6 tons in the most recent season.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2026
Calls grow in Akita to ban fishing for sandfish amid warming seas
Some fishery operators have voiced reluctance about a fishing ban, fearing that such a move could prevent them from catching other fish and shellfish.
Tokyo’s push for cooler office attire has sparked backlash in Japan, where conservative workplace norms still shape office culture and critics say shorts and sandals do not belong in the workplace.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2026
Tokyo wants you to wear shorts to work. Say no.
While the image of the suit-and-tie salaryman endures, in recent years summer office fashions have become much more casual.
Japan’s push into space-based solar power could reshape the future of global energy and position the country ahead of the U.S. and China in the next phase of the space race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 31, 2026
A space race the Land of the Rising Sun is winning
Japan takes the lead in space-based solar power exploration.
Everimpact’s Alain Retiere visits a project site in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Through a collaboration that also includes local foresters and Hitachi Systems, the team is striving to connect Japanese forestry with international carbon finance.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 31, 2026
How carbon finance could give a boost to Japan’s ailing forestry industry
The drop in value of forests has turned them into a burden, but one group hopes carbon credits could reverse that trend, while also helping the planet.
The coastline of Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu. A trust fund set up to help a South Pacific nation gravely threatened by climate change has invested in coal mining, gas exploration and the world's largest crude oil refinery.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2026
Fund for climate-exposed Pacific nation invests in fossil fuels
A trust fund set up to help a South Pacific nation gravely threatened by climate change has invested in coal mining, gas exploration and the world’s largest crude oil refinery.
Salmonella bacteria
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 27, 2026
Climate change fueling growth of antibiotic-resistant salmonella
New research suggests warming temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns could accelerate the spread of hard-to-treat infections.
A jawbone of Naumann’s elephant at the Murakami Kaizoku Museum in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 27, 2026
Naumann’s elephant may have gone extinct in Japan 10,000 years earlier than thought
Up until now, the widely accepted theory was that the elephant disappeared from the Japanese archipelago about 24,000 years ago.
A view of the village of Wiler, which neighbors Blatten, a village that was destroyed by a collapsing glacier, in Switzerland, on May 13.
WORLD
May 27, 2026
A year after glacier collapse, Blatten residents rebuild lives in Swiss Alps
Resilience and a promise to return are propelling plans to rebuild the village.
Visitors outside Notre-Dame Cathedral amid a severe heat wave in Paris on Tuesday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 27, 2026
Record temps as spring heat wave bakes Europe
The U.K. reported its hottest-ever day for May, at 35.1 degrees Celsius at Kew Gardens in southwest London, as a high-pressure system trapped warm air over western Europe.
Muslim worshipers walk along the Grand Mosque complex under the water-mist fans installed in the holy city of Mecca on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
May 25, 2026
With ice cream and giant fans, hajj pilgrims battle searing heat
Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Meteorology has predicted daytime temperatures this week would hover between 42 and 47 degrees Celsius in Mecca during the Hajj.
Toyota's bZ4X electric vehicle at an international car show in Indonesia in August 2023. At 10% of Japan’s economy, the automotive industry is a pillar of the nation.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 24, 2026
Japan’s automotive industry is driving — slowly — toward a greener future
While major carmakers have committed to cut emissions, the industry’s slow shift to EVs means that it faces a high hurdle if it wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Blue River, a tributary to the Colorado River, earlier this month
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 24, 2026
Climate change threatens global plant species as habitats shrink
Some of the plants ⁠that make familiar landscapes recognizable may not survive by century’s end.
Workers in the sewing section of a factory, in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, in November 2025
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 21, 2026
Garment workers face heat risks in Bangladesh as energy cuts curb cooling
Factories have turned off cooling amid energy restrictions caused by the Mideast war, with workers sweltering and a drop in productivity likely costing billions of dollars.
A small portable cooler at a shop on the outskirts of Nagpur, India
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 21, 2026
In India’s parched heart, high power costs put cooling out of reach
“We keep our consumption to a bare minimum. Just enough to get some rest in the night.’’
A production line at a Nippon Steel plate rolling mill in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, in May 2025.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 17, 2026
Japan’s new emissions trading program: Key climate tool or paper tiger?
While climate advocates welcome emissions trading in Japan, there are concerns that the program lacks ambition.
The Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which will host six matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Scientists warned FIFA that 1 in 4 of the World Cup games could take place in very hot conditions.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 15, 2026
Scientists warn ‘grueling heat’ could impact quarter of World Cup games
Concerns about heat already prompted FIFA to mandate a cooling break during each half of the World Cup matches that will take place in June in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
An uncovered sandbar due to low water levels of the Mississippi River in Greenville, Mississippi, in 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 14, 2026
Why more intense bursts of rain are making the planet drier
Intense, concentrated rainstorms have been on the rise for decades. And those bigger storms turn out to have a counterintuitive effect.
A worker harvests salt at the Little Rann of Kutch region of Gujarat, India, on April 29.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 13, 2026
No trees, no fans: surviving extreme heat in India’s salt pans
Up to 50,000 workers in the western state of Gujarat spend eight months a year in the remote salt pans without electricity or healthcare, relying on a tanker to deliver water.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan falls in gut-wrenching fashion as Brazil strikes late to win World Cup clash
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli (right) shoots past Japan defenders Shogo Taniguchi (left) and Takehiro Tomiyasu to score in the second half of a match in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

TDC Global challenges norms at Japan workplaces
TDC Global challenges norms at Japan workplaces

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