Japan for Sustainability

<<< JFS WEEKLY DIGEST >>> 13 - 19 May. 2008

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Candle Night Summer Solstice 2008
--June 21 to July 7, 2008.
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Turn off the lights, and take it slow, for two hours
from 8 to 10 p.m., on the evenings of June 21 to July 7, 2008.

Candle Night encourages people to turn off the lights and
to spend some quality time in the candlelight.
JFS is an official partner of the initiative.

In accordance with the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Japan,
an extended Candle Night Summer Solstice 2008 will last
from June 21(Sat) to July 7 (Mon)

For more information on Candle Night,
please visit http://www.candle-night.org/

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What's New This Week from Japan for Sustainability
(13 - 19 May. 2008)
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- Report from JFS Meets the Press
You will find a report from JFS Meets the Press,
Briefing Session Series No. 1 (2008/5/19)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/jfs/event/event080318.html

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Newly Arrived Articles from Japan for Sustainability
(13 - 19 May. 2008)
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Panasonic Gains International Recognition for Climate Change Disclosure
Strategy

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., known by its world-wide Panasonic
brand, was selected for the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI)
for the first time on September 24, 2007. Matsushita was the only
company selected for the Household Durables section of the CDLI in 2007.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2076-e

Sony and Others Go Open with Patents on Environmental Technologies

Sony Corp. announced on January 15, 2008 that the World Business Council
for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) team has established an "Eco-Patent
Commons," a commonly shared asset of pledged patents focused on
environmental technologies, in partnership with IBM (U.S.), Nokia
(Finland), Pitney Bowes (U.S.) and Sony (Japan). The pledged portfolio
of patents in the Eco-Patent Commons is available on a web site hosted
by the WBCSD.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2077-e

Energy Saving Award Goes to Developers of New Semiconductor
Manufacturing Equipment

The Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., an electronic equipment
manufacturer, and Ushio Inc., an industrial equipment manufacturer,
announced on February 5, 2008, that together they had won the
President's Award in the "2007 Excellent Saving Energy Equipment"
category, presented by the Japan Machinery Federation (JMF). They won
the award for their jointly-developed "Flash Lamp Annealing System
(LA-3000-F)," a new type of thermal treatment equipment for
semiconductor manufacturing
.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2078-e

Testing Begins on Practical Production of Bio-Ethanol Fuel Made from
Cellulosic Materials

Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST) announced on January 31, 2008, that it has started a project to
develop and demonstrate the production of biomass ethanol fuel made from
various plants in small- and medium-sized facilities. The project will
run for about three-and-a-half years, from December 2007 to March 2011,
with the aim of establishing an integrated technology to manufacture
ethanol fuel from a wide variety of cellulosic biomass resources without
competing for food resources.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2079-e

Yokohama Plans to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 30% by 2025

The city of Yokohama, in central Japan, aims to reduce its greenhouse
gas emissions per capita by 30 percent from the 2004 level by 2025, and
60 percent by 2050, it announced in January 2008 in its action plan to
promote actions and lifestyles that can help reverse global warming. It
also includes a target to increase the use of renewable energy by more
than ten times the 2004 level.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2080-e

Kanazawa Introduces Online Trip-Planning to Promote Park-and-Ride
Commuting

Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, has developed an online
trip-planning system for commuters living near the city, and made it
available on its website on January 15, 2008. By typing in basic
information such as home address, work address, and departure time, the
system comes up with the best route and selection of commuting patterns,
including park-and-ride facilities and bus routes.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2081-e

Japanese Pubs and Restaurants Display Green Lanterns to Promote Local
Produce

More pubs and restaurants in Japan have started hanging green lanterns
outside their establishments, instead of the traditional red ones, to
let people know that they use grown-in-Japan ingredients in more than
half of their food dishes. The idea was launched in Hokkaido in the
spring of 2005 by Kiyoaki Maruyama, the director-general of the National
Agricultural Research Center, with the aim of revitalizing Japan's
agricultural sector, responding to concern that the country's food self-
sufficiency ratio had fallen below 40 percent.
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2082-e

# # #

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[jfs] JFS WEEKLY DIGEST 13 - 19 May. 2008