Hi, everyone! It's Kumi-chan. I attended a seminar last Friday on the paradigm shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy and had an interesting conversation with one of the participants during a break. She said, "solar panels, heat pumps, and all the other environmentally friendly features of a house should be presented to home buyers as options just as car buyers are presented with so many options to choose from." I thought this was a simple but very viable and user-friendly way to increase eco-housing.

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Hi!  This is Kumi-chan.
For some of you lucky enough to take a long vacation, I hope you are having a wonderful time. 
So, the holiday week is half way over, but from tomorrow, fun starts at NHK in Shibuya.And the admission is free.  It is a big event held every year introducing what we do here at NHK as well as some other interactive fun and shows featuring characters from kids’ programming.  These are just some examples. 

©ＮＨＫ・ＴＹＯ	©NHK・NED	©NHK・NED

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Hi, everyone!  It's me, Kumi-chan.

Before the start of "Golden Week"(<=see below), I just wanted to drop you a quick note about a video clip that was uploaded in our video library yesterday.
A lot of you may be taking off for a holiday and some of you may enjoy the budding trees in the forests or visit national parks.

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Hi, everyone!   Thanks for always supporting our ECO-CHANNEL.
My name is “kumi-chan” and I am new to the ECO-CHANNEL family.  I’ve joined the ECO-CHANNEL family from this spring, after giving birth to my first child and taking a maternity leave.

It has been a roller-coaster ride to say the least in all sense of the word.  My life has changed 180 degrees from work-centered (and a little bit of after-5 beer) life to chasing after my child to change her diaper and cleaning the mess she makes every time she eats.
As chaotic as my life is right now, having a child has brought some good things as well.  I’ve heard many mothers say this before, but I have become more conscious of what I do with the environment. For instance, I am more careful with what I use and do around the house, like using baking soda for cleaning and turning the main switches off of the TV and all the other electrical appliances when not in use.  I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that I want this blue planet to stay as beautiful as, if not more beautiful than now for my child.  It’s a small, small step but it has to start from here right where I stand. 

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Hi Eco Channel Friends,

It’s Ginger Vaughn here just wrapping up a busy week. Here on the Green Style team we’ve been working feverishly the last few days to finish up our spring edition of Green Style Japan 2012 which features a variety of new topics regarding sustainable lifestyles and green ideas here in Japan.  They include: sustainable recovery, radiation awareness, cutting Co2 and protecting forests.

Ginger and Mr.Shindo pull up fresh oysters grown using
microbubble technology in episode 1 of Green Style Japan.

This time around I did a lot of reporting in Tohoku, northern Japan in areas that were destroyed by last year’s March earthquake and tsunami.   The situation has improved greatly since last spring as many recovery efforts and aid groups are in place that are trying to help locals get back to some kind of normalcy.   However, there is still a long way to go, as mountains of unprocessed debris are still a common sight along with dilapidated buildings next to newly built ones.

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This week I visited Ishinomaki Senshu University to help judge a business plan contest aimed at reviving the disaster-hit city of Ishinomaki.  The program run by Dr.Takeru Ohe, founder of NPO My Vision and backed by Asia Seed uses consulting-based learning methodology, known as COBLAS, to connect students with local small-to-mid sized enterprises to exchange ideas through real-life training and work experience.

NPO My Vision team and founder Dr. Takeru Ohe （in green）, next to Mobby Dick manager Tadahiro Kimura（center）

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Happy New Year Eco Channel Friends,

I started 2012 with a trip up to Tohoku to check out how one technology is helping revive oyster farms.   Read on for more…

When I arrived in coastal town of Ofunato, the cold bit through all my warm layers and I could immediately taste the salt in the air. It is known for its abundance of seafood, including oysters, clams, and a large variety of fish.  But the March 11^th earthquake and tsunami changed all that, destroying much of the inshore fisheries and oyster farms leaving Ofunato bay covered in oil and debris.  This was a tragedy as oysters take a long time to mature and supplies that were to be sold for consumption were lost and polluted. Many fishermen in the area said they were not hopeful about the recovery of oyster beds in the area, but the situation is improving a lot faster than expected.

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Happy Holidays Eco Channel Friends,
It’s your Eco Channel blogger Ginger here.  With the holidays just around the corner, I’d like to introduce some eco-friendly tips to keep in mind while you are making merry this holiday season. Read on for more.

So who wants about the environment this holiday season?  We all should, shouldn’t we?  I mean, if this really is the time of year when one is suppose to reflect on one’s actions, and think about others (this includes the environment), then that can start with being conscious on what you buy, how you wrap it, and how you decorate during Christmas and the New Year.

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Dear Eco Channel Friends,

It’s your Eco Channel blogger Ginger here.  Recently I went to Nihon University in Tohoku to check out “LOHAS” houses built on campus.  I was surprised to find out not only were they taking energy from the sun in terms of solar power, but they were able to tap into the sun’s hidden energy in the ground as well.  Read on for more.

So what is LOHAS?  It means “Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability,” and as Dr.Kato, Professor of Engineering from Nippon University says, “it’s the way of living that makes the most sense for our generation and future generations considering our natural resources are limited.”

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Dear Eco Channel Friends,
It’s Ginger here.  Yesterday, I joined Kagenomori Elementary School’s 5th graders to take a class on radiation awareness. I was impressed not only with their understanding, but also their willingness to teach others.  Read on for more.

I slid the door open as quietly as I could and shuffled along in my slippers to an empty seat.   The presentation had already started and the room was packed with attentive 5th graders.  The first slide on the power point read, “How much do you know about radiation?”  

Ms. Akitsu, an educator and member of an NPO that specializes in teaching children about radiation spoke slowly and clearly.  “Radiation is something all around us.  Even before the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima, radiation existed on earth so it’s not a new thing.  By learning about radiation we can be calm and also we’ll know how to protect ourselves.”

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