Anja Light: "Candle Night"

...This beautiful song by Anja Light celebrates Japan's Candle Night held during the winter & summer solstices...

Japan’s Candle Night asks that people switch off their lights for two hours, from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. on the night of the summer solstice to enjoy the night in candlelight. Candle Night was inspired by the Voluntary Blackout movement in Canada, launched in 2001.

During the summer of 2008, facilities all over Japan to turned out their lights during two events: Black Illumination held on June 2 and Lights-Down at the Tanabata Star Festival on July 7. Between the two events, 149,939 facilities joined the campaign, reducing the amount of electricity used by approximately 2,371,786.51 kilowatts. This translated into saving 925 tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the total daily emission of 64,000 households.

The event has spread across the world. The Korean Environmental Women’s Network worked closely with Japanese Candle Night organizers to hold their own Candle Night. Events were also held in Taiwan, Australia, China (Shanghai), Mauritius, and many other countries.

...More info at the Candle Night website...

Earth Day festival this weekend at Yoyogi Park, Tokyo

Fom Philip Brasor's "Earth Day Japan Needed More Than Ever" posted at The Japan Times:

Plans for this year's Earth Day festivities in Tokyo, which organizers predict will attract some 140,000 people, remain fluid in light of the disaster, but in addition to fund-raising activities for the victims of the earthquake/tsunami, one of the themes of this year's festival is saving electricity, an issue that has become much more immediate with the loss of the Fukushima nuclear reactors and the probability of another hot and muggy summer in the city. Electricity for the entire festival this year, including the power to drive public address systems for concerts and lectures, will be generated using recycled cooking oil, or so-called biodiesel fuel. There will even be a car on display that was designed to run on hemp oil.

More than 400 nonprofit organizations and nongovernment organizations will be on hand manning booths, distributing literature and selling wares. The 27 restaurants participating in the Earth Day Kitchen will serve dishes containing ingredients that are locally grown, organic and free of genetically modified elements. The president of Earth Day Tokyo since its beginnings, author, naturalist and Japan Times contributor C.W. Nicol, will honor 2011 as the International Year of Forests by presiding over the Earth Day Forest...Patrons are encouraged to bring their own dishware to cut down on waste, and those who do will receive a discount on all prepared food. The nonprofit recycling group A Seed Japan will provide utensils to those who come empty-handed, but you pay for it...

There will also be workshops in Japanese paper-making and various exhibitions, including one by Japan's only photojournalism magazine, Days Japan, featuring photographs related to issues having to do with the environment and poverty.

At least four nonprofit food resellers will be in the park selling fresh organic produce grown on farms in the Kanto region, some even within the Tokyo city limits. In many cases the farmers who actually grew the fruits and vegetables on offer will be counting the change. Other outlets for consumables include a Himalaya Bazaar featuring handmade clothing and accessories, and a Fair Trade Village occupied by various foundations dedicated to helping small producers in foreign countries get real value for their goods.

Read Brasor's entire article at the above link and find out more about Earth Day Tokyo 2011, Apr. 23-24, Yoyogi Park and other locations in the Shibuya-Harajuku area at www.earthday-tokyo.org

Post-3/11 Japan: "Slightly Darkened Streets of Tokyo"

Via darwinfish105, this time-lapse video, "Slightly Darkened Streets of Tokyo," reveals some efforts at post-3/11 energy conservation in Japan's capital.

Conservations say Futenma move threatens rich marine life

Tomoyuki Yamamoto at The Asahi Shimbun: "Conservationists say Futenma move threatens rich marine life:"

Small conchs on marine plants on the seabed off the Henoko district in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.( Image: THE NATURE CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF JAPAN)

An endangered, brightly colored conch is among diverse sea life that may be affected by the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. A survey by the Nature Conservation Society of Japan found 362 species in the waters off Henoko, society officials said Wednesday.

The vivid yellow-green smaragdia rangiana conch, designated by the prefecture as a potentially endangered species, was found in particular concentration. In one 50-centimeter-square area, researchers found 186 conchs, which have suffered a sharp decline in population because of a loss of habitats. Plants fed on by dugongs, an endangered marine mammal, were also found in abundance.

The society plans to use the survey, carried out in late July, to emphasize the importance of protecting the rich biodiversity in the waters off Henoko at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in Nagoya in October. Masato Ono, the society's Conservation Project Division director, said Japan should not destroy the abundant biodiversity in the area.

"Earth Hour" call around the world for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions

Millions of people concerned about sustainability are observing "Earth Hour" around the world--turning off their lights at 8:30 p.m.--in a call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"Sustainable Fisheries: Japanese Experience" DVD available from PARC

Utase-bune taken at Notsuke Bay, Hokkaido To avoid eel grass being damaged by propellers, fisher folks of Notsuke only use the power of the wind and tides when capturing shrimp. The volume of catch is strictly limited according to seasonal surveys.

The Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC), a Tokyo-based social justice NGO, has released a new DVD "Sustainable Fisheries; Japanese Experience," both in English and in Japanese. This short documentary takes a look at grassroots and governmental efforts to create sustainable fisheries in Japan within a global and comparative context:

Nowadays, the disappearance of marine resources is a serious concern around the world.

This video analyzes the system within which marine resources are consumed and distributed in Japan, as well as how this system requires a huge amount of fish catch--thereby resulting in a depletion of resources.

With the goal in mind of finding alternative ways to fish, we covered various examples of sustainable fisheries that find ways to capture fish while still being able to maintain precious resources.

Such examples include making their own rules with which to regulate themselves; defending the ocean from reclamation; enriching local communities by implementing a system whereby profits are distributed amongst the community equally; and a system of fixed-net fisheries that leaves schools of fish untouched.

The video also introduces the Japanese Fishery Rights system, and explains how the Japanese Fishery Act incorporates the customs of community resource management, while also highlighting the important role that these rights have played in conserving the marine environment.

*************************************************************
Video information:

Title: "Sustainable Fisheries; Japanese Experience"
　 Directed by Suzuki Toshiaki
Produced by Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC), Aug. 2009

35min, DVD (NTSC or PAL)
Price $20 for developing countries, $60 for developed countries

Contents:

Chapter 1: What's Happening to Fish around the World?
　　The Japanese Diet and the State of World Fishing
　　Are Fish Disappearing?
　　Japan's Fisheries and Fishery Resources

Chapter2: Fishery Rights and Customs as a Way to Conserve the Blessings of the Sea
　　A Commitment to Nature: Haruku Island, Indonesia
　　Self-regulation of the Fishing Seasons: Himeshima Island, Japan
　　Self-regulation: The Three-Year Moratorium on Hatahata Fishing in Akita, Japan
　　Fishery Rights, Built on Customs
　　Defending Nature: Onyujima, Japan

Chapter3: Sharing the Blessings of the Sea
　　Community-Building with Fishery Resources
　　Cross-Border Management of Marine Resources: The Disappearance of Yellowtail from Odawara, Japan
　　Protecting the Sea to Secure Our Lives