Koen Dori in Shibuya, the main street from the station to NHK, will continue to have eco events until June 10. Here is the NHK Kankyo website. The tema is 明日のエコではまにあわない (”Eco tomorrow will not be enough”) or a sense that we had better start doing something today, or it will be too late. And June 5 is Environment Day in Japan.

I had a great time at the Eco Life Fair last weekend and took some photos which I put on my regular blog, Kurashi News from Japan. Hope you enjoy seeing what is going on here in Tokyo and Japan. This event was sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and some large companies, so it wasn’t as wild and crazy as for example Earthday. Having said that, I also felt Japan is indeed taking a lead in the field of sustainable development and environmental protection.
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Believe or not, it is June 1st today. It is already the beginning-month of the half way of 2007!! At the end of March to early April, there are beautiful sakura that decorate leaves in many different kinds of pink. May is the month when all those pink flowers change into rich green leaves. June… the leaves deepen the greenness and there is new season of Japan, tsuyu/rainy season begins.

Some southern parts of Japan have already entered tsuyu; Tokyo has yet entered the season. However, last night heavy rain already reminded us all that thetsuyu season is about to begin. I bet many people would be rather annoyed with such heavy rainfall like last night that wet everyone’s clothes even having umbrellas; tsuyu season is also very beautiful and necessary for the agriculture and forestry of Japan.

Walking around my town today, I saw new lives coming out that are particular to this season. Earthworms are walking on the still wet road. Dokudami flowers flourish beautiful white flowers despite its rather strong smell. Don’t forget! This is also the time when mosquitoes start to annoy our peaceful lives with irritating sounds they make!!!　Be ready to set akatorisenkou (A traditional Japanese item used to kill mosquitoes with the smoke that is created from the rounded green thing in the last pic.)

Here we go again, another Tokyo festival this weekend with the word “Eco” as the theme. This time the sponsor is Japan’s Environment Ministry and it looks huge, judging from the booths they have already set up in Yoyogi Park, in front of NHK Hall, in Shibuya. The event is Saturday and Sunday June 2-3. Also, NHK is promoting “Eco Style Street” this weekend.

Eco Life Fair 2007 is a very nice website, but couldn’t they have at least some information in other languages? I’m not saying English only, but how about Chinese, Korean…?

Lectures, music, booths and foods… Another fun-filled weekend ahead! If you are interested in what NGOs are doing in Japan, this is also a great opportunity to get information and make new friends. List of participating NGOs/NPOs with websites here.