Brian Nicholls comments

Hilarious. 40 years ago I worked for the Japan Marine Machinery Development Association (JAMDA) which developed a sophisticated system of computer controlled aerofoil sails for cargo vessels. The system was very successful, with fuel savings of 30%+ and a low build cost , and was incorporated into a number of ships. If you Google "Shin Aitoku Maru" and "Usuki Pioneer" you'll see two examples. Sadly the fuel price fell in the late 1980s and shipping companies lost interest in cutting fuel costs. Now there is renewed interest in wind power, but Japan seems to have forgotten it once led the world in this field, and could do so again if it got its act together. If it doesn't, it will be yet another missed opportunity.

Onigiri pan is a cute idea, but not new. Back in early 2017 my wife and I found a bakery in Kyoto that sold "omusubi pan," in the same shape and with nori wrapping, but with a chicken filling. I wouldn't be surprised if it's also been done elsewhere.

Hydrogen usage only reduces emissions if the hydrogen is made using renewable energy (green hydrogen. ) Hydrogen made from fossil fuels still generates high emissions unless the CO2 generated during manufacture can be captured and stored using CCS (carbon capture and storage, ) a technology which has so far proved utterly incapable of capturing and storing the amount of CO2 generated by large scale fossil fuel hydrogen production. Here in Australia we have one of the world's largest CCS facilities, which has been a total flop, and the same is true for other facilities elsewhere.

Hmm, so what's the carbon footprint of millions of people unnecessarily running their rice cookers for an extra half hour every day?

I used to pass through Shinjuku twice a day on my commute between Shin Koenji and Yotsuya, and often stopped off at Subnade. I used to wonder what it was like to work underground all the time, and asked a travel agent there while booking a holiday. "It's not bad in the summer" she said, "because it's still daylight when I finish work, but in the winter I come to work and go home in the dark, so for months I only see the sun when I have a day off." It gave me a greater appreciation for all those people who work in underground malls.

As someone living in the country with the highest skin cancer rates in the world (Australia), I have to say these swimsuits make a lot of sense. The top section is basically a Japanese version of the high sun protection rash vests that most Australian kids now wear, and anything that reduces skin damage is welcome, regardless of the arguments about de-sexualisation.

Here in Australia the cost of power generated by solar and other renewable energy sources is considerably cheaper than fossil fuel power (we don't have nuclear,) so I am puzzled by the claim that solar is more expensive. I can only assume that fossil fuel and nuclear power in Japan are subsidised in some way and solar is not, or that the price calculation does not include the cost of pollution or nuclear decommissioning. When all lifetime and secondary costs are included, solar and other renewables are always cheaper.

Yes it's good to see a business in Japan employing more people with disabilities. However, in many other countries, including here in Australia, paying them half the minimum national hourly wage would be seen as exploitative and probably illegal.

There are various ways to recycle bottled used cooking oil. This product not only makes it impossible to recycle the oil, but also adds yet more plastic microfibre pollution to the planet. Hardly environmentally friendly.

I assume you mean "reactive." "Reactionary" has rather different connotations.

At a time when vast swathes of forest are being destroyed around the world to grow soy beans, the last thing the planet needs is more soy products

After more than 20 years of being stopped and questioned about the "name discrepancy " on her passport literally every time we went on an overseas holiday or returned to Australia, my wife finally made the difficult decision to renounce her Japanese nationality and become an Australian just to avoid the problem. This change is decades overdue.