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July 04, 2026
 

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UTILITIES

Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2021
The two hours that nearly destroyed the electric grid in Texas
The debacle highlights just how vulnerable even the most sophisticated energy systems are to the vagaries of climate change, and how close it all came to crashing down.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 19, 2021
Texas winter freeze shows U.S. isn’t ready for climate change, White House says
Washington rejected claims by Texas officials that power outages had been caused by ‘green energy,’ while angry residents point to the state’s failure to winterize infrastructure.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 18, 2021
In Texas black-swan blackout, everything went wrong at once
The greatest forced blackout in U.S. history, as this event has almost certainly become, was the result of a systemic and multifaceted failure.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2021
Japan’s stressed power grid faces new test with Arctic blast on way
While Japan is unlikely to see millions plunged into blackouts as in the U.S. currently, the country narrowly avoided power cuts only last month in another wintry spell.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2021
Mayor gives Japan’s first approval for restart of reactors over 40 years old
Takahama Mayor Yutaka Nose reached his decision after receiving assurances from the government that it would boost revitalization projects and the town’s funding.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2021
Japan’s historic power market rally triggers government probe
Most households and businesses won’t be affected by the volatility, as nearly all power supply contracts are linked to rates independent from the spot market.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2020
Japan net zero plan hits speed bump as small utilities balk
Hokkaido Electric Power Co. and Shikoku Electric Power Co. said this week they can’t set deadlines to become emissions neutral because it’s too costly.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2020
Power firm JERA to shut inefficient coal-fired plants by 2030
The firm also said it aims to achieve net zero emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2020
Japan’s offshore wind backers see clean heir to coal and nuclear
Offshore wind could help replace facilities built during Japan’s economic boom from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2020
Energy traders flock to Japan and its $136 billion ‘dream’ market
Power experts say the potential for price volatility and arbitrage in Japan are a trader’s dream.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jul 16, 2020
Japan’s phaseout plan forces utilities to rethink reliance on coal
After the Fukushima disaster woke Japan to the dangers of atomic power, utilities went back to coal. Now what will they do?
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2020
Tepco plans ¥2 trillion green power push by 2030
The spending plans are among the most ambitious from Japanese utilities, which lag global peers in shifting away from fossil fuels.
BUSINESS / EXPLAINER
Mar 29, 2020
A closer look at Kansai Electric and its gift-giving scandal
Earlier this month, Kansai Electric Power Co. concluded that scores of its employees had received cash and gifts worth hundreds of millions of yen from an influential politician in a Fukui Prefecture town where the utility operates a nuclear power plant. The revelations by Kepco’s investigative panel...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2020
Tepco may take 30 years to release Fukushima No. 1 radioactive water
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it may spend up to 20 to 30 years releasing contaminated water into the surrounding environment from its disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Mar 9, 2020
Nine years on, Fukushima nuclear plant lawsuits await high court rulings
High courts in Japan have been hearing a number of damages claims filed by those who evacuated due to the unprecedented nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture nine years ago.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2020
Shift to cleaner power sparks landmark green bond sale in Japan
In the gusty northeast, a power company is looking to fund offshore wind projects with a landmark sale of green bonds that seeks to muscle in on the growing pool of money available for environmentally friendly investments.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2020
A new type of bond could help Japan’s utilities cut emissions
Japanese power producers have been emitting more carbon dioxide since the 2011 nuclear disaster led to an increased reliance on fossil fuels, but a new kind of bond could help them reverse that trend.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2019
Some Kyushu Electric coal ships to use LNG, cutting emissions by 20%
Kyushu Electric Power Co. will start using vessels powered by liquefied natural gas to transport coal for thermal power generation, resulting in reduced carbon emissions from shipping.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2019
Shikoku Electric to remove fuel from Ikata nuclear reactor, a first since MOX work began in 1997
Shikoku Electric Power Co. said Thursday that it will suspend operations of the No. 3 reactor at its Ikata nuclear power plant on Dec. 26 for routine checkups and remove spent mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel from the reactor.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 9, 2019
Tohoku reactor restart: What is the state of Japan’s nuclear policy?
In late November, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave the green light for restarting the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture, which had been damaged in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. The announcement once again put the spotlight on the...
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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