All national papers reported that METI completed a series of hearings on Thursday on its plan to release into the ocean radioactive water stored at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Many of the fishermen and other local stakeholders at the hearings voiced opposition to the idea out of concern that their products will attract negative publicity based on speculation that….Read more

All national papers wrote that two rural municipalities in Hokkaido have decided to ask the GOJ to begin a study on whether they would be appropriate locations to host a facility to process and bury nuclear waste 300 meters underground. Although the central government is pleased with the two remote communities’ willingness to host a final nuclear waste disposal site,….Read more

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets agreed to by the international community 10 years ago are aimed at protecting wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems. Over the past decade, however, not a single target has been met fully, according to the United Nations.   The finding amounts to a report card, on which the world received a failing mark for its handling of biodiversity protection.….Read more

Saturday’s Yomiuri front-paged the disclosure by the Fisheries Agency that no protests or sabotage have been leveled against Japanese whalers by foreign environmentalists in the North Pacific since commercial whaling was resumed in July 2019. According to the agency, no foreign governments have filed protests with the GOJ against the resumption. The daily speculated that anti-whaling nations and NGOs have….Read more

Sunday’s Nikkei wrote that the GOJ is likely to hold talks with fishermen and farmers in Fukushima Prefecture this week about the idea of releasing into the ocean the large volume of radioactive water that is being stored at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Although TEPCO is set to secure by the end of this year on the plant premises….Read more

In FY 2021, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will start preparations for building a base for collecting and transporting CO2 discharged from Kansai Electric Power’s Maizuru coal-fired power plant (Maizuru, Kyoto) to Tomakomai, Hokkaido.   METI will earmark 6.5 billion yen for the initiative in the FY 2021 budget request. It will also establish the necessary technology….Read more

The Saturday editions of all national dailies wrote that Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. pledged on Friday about 1 billion yen ($9.4 million) in aid to Mauritius in response to the recent oil spill involving a freighter it operated, including an 800 million yen ($7.5 million) fund for cleaning up the environment. The contribution over several years will cover projects for….Read more

Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo wrote that Okinawa Governor Tamaki commented on Thursday on a press report that there was an incident at MCAS Futenma in 2014 in which foam extinguisher containing perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) leaked because of a barbecue held in a hangar at the base. The governor reportedly asked the U.S. military to review its rules for the….Read more

KEIGO YOSHIDA, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, the Japanese shipping group involved in a major oil spill off Mauritius, has decided to provide further aid for the cleanup effort and may establish its own relief fund.   Mitsui O.S.K. will also join with a private-sector company to dispatch investigators to assess the scale of damage to….Read more