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August 11, 2026
 

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TREES

People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Aug 9, 2026
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
Increasing tree coverage in Japanese cities could have myriad benefits as the planet warms. But canopy coverage in Tokyo and beyond is headed in the wrong direction.
In 2008, Nishiawakura announced a 100-year plan to promote forest health through measures including structured thinning of its artificially planted <i>sugi</i> and <i>hinoki</i> trees. Since then, it has earned nationwide recognition for its innovative forest health management initiatives.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 27, 2026
The tiny Okayama village providing Japan with a blueprint for forest management
Nishiawakura is prioritizing long-term forest health and biodiversity, while also strengthening the local economy.
Scientists have warned that many of Europe¡¯s forests are bearing the scars of years of rising temperatures and intense drought.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 30, 2026
Trees taking drastic measures to survive climate-driven heat
Countless trees across Europe¡¯s forests are adopting drastic ¡ª and often fatal ¡ª strategies to survive worsening heat and drought linked to climate change.
Collingwood Ingram is seen under cherry trees at his home in Benenden, England, aged 99.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2026
¡®Sakura diplomacy¡¯: One tree, two men, three wars
Using cherry blossoms to salve war wounds is as important today as in 1926.
While climate-change skeptics downplay the issue, earlier blooming cherry trees in Washington and Kyoto serve as visible indicators of the climate crisis, driven by global warming.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2026
Cherry blossoms are proof of a planet going awry
It was the seventh consecutive year in which the trees flowered earlier than their 20-year average.
People admire the Kajimoto Family wisteria trellis during the Shindachijuku Wisteria Festival in Sennan, Osaka.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 16, 2026
After Â鶹´«Ã½ cherry blossoms fade, spring keeps blooming
The fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms gives way to a rolling season of color, vocabulary and new ways to describe change.
A drawing of Fujiwara no Teika, known as a courtier, <i>waka</i> poet and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 10, 2026
Japanese researchers look at 800-year-old books and trees for signs of extreme solar events
Japan has a wealth of old literature that provides scientists with clues on past climate events.
Nearly half of Â鶹´«Ã½ population suffers from hay fever, fueled by pollen from vast cedar and cypress plantations.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
Mar 23, 2026
The human-made roots of Â鶹´«Ã½ hay fever crisis
Efforts to thin forests and breed low-pollen cedar advance, even as labor gaps and neglected land complicate the work.
An aerial view of a cleared patch of the Shakarparian forest in Islamabad. Trees across Islamabad are being felled for infrastructure and even military monuments, prompting local anger and lawsuits.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 8, 2026
Pakistan¡¯s capital picks concrete over trees, angering residents
Trees are being felled across Islamabad for infrastructure and military monuments.
Cedar pollen is expected to start dispersing in northern Kyushu, Shizuoka and southern Kanto in early February, spreading across much of western and eastern Japan by mid-month, Weathernews said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2026
Cedar pollen season to start in early February; above-average levels expected
Nationwide pollen volumes are forecast to be 18% higher than last year¡¯s levels and 28% higher than the long-term average.
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 4, 2025
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
Run by three generations of the same family, Ryokukou Garden is behind the greenery for five major pavilions at the Osaka event.
From left to right: Green Legacy Hiroshima volunteer staff Mariko Kikuchi, Tomoko Watanabe, Nassrine Azimi and Sophie Qano stand before one of the trees that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Aug 9, 2025
A campaign to preserve Hiroshima¡¯s historic trees for another 1,000 years
A total of 170 trees survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Since 2011, a nonprofit organization has been dedicated to sharing their seeds and saplings with the world.
Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 7, 2025
A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat
Log rafting was once a means of transporting timber, but now it¡¯s the tourist draw of a tiny Wakayama village.
Science suggests that three days of ¡°shinrin-yoku¡± (forest bathing) is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2025
The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good
Science suggests that three days of ¡°shinrin-yoku¡± forest bathing is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
May 26, 2025
Do Â鶹´«Ã½ trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?
Trees have long occupied a sacred place in Japanese culture. In the fast pace of the 21st century, however, they¡¯re increasingly losing out to progress.
Emperor Naruhito plants seedling at the 75th National Tree-Planting Festival at Chichibu Muse Park in Saitama Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025
Emperor attends tree-planting festival and calls for nurturing healthy forests
The emperor arrived in Saitama on Saturday for a two-day visit, where he inspected a research institute on tea, a local specialty, and a special-needs school.
Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, planted saplings from a persimmon tree that survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025
Saplings from a tree that survived atomic bombing planted at U.N. headquarters
The planting comes as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A person walks with a dog through the "micro-forest" park created by the Athens City Council near Alepotrypa Park in downtown Athens, Greece, on March 31.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 22, 2025
Tentative tree planting ¡®decades overdue¡¯ in sweltering Athens
Planting vegetation is crucial to help cities beat the heat, scientists say, as climate change stokes hotter and more intense heatwaves.
More than half of Japan's population may suffer from pollen allergies, with hay fever dubbed the nation¡¯s "national disease" and blamed for being a drag on the economy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2025
Did I fall victim to Â鶹´«Ã½ stealth productivity killer?
Hay fever has been dubbed Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡°national disease¡± and blamed as a major drag on productivity.
Cherry blossoms in full bloom at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on March 30
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 10, 2025
AI app helps monitor cherry tree health and keep hanami tradition blooming
As Japan celebrates cherry blossom season, aging trees pose safety risks ¡ª and a new AI app is helping track their condition.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital&#039;s largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn&#039;t just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it&#039;s an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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