In fiscal 2010, just before the March 2012 disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holding’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the national average CO2 emission was 416 grams per kilowatt-hour. In fiscal 2013, after all nuclear power plants were idled, the figure rose to 570 grams.

Fuel economy is about 10 km per liter for gasoline-powered passenger cars and a little over 20 km per liter for hybrid cars. The comparable figure for EVs is some 10 km per kilowatt-hour. Even with all nuclear power plants idled, an EV emits only about half as much CO2 as hybrid vehicles. Even if all power stations used coal, the CO2 emission per kilowatt-hour would be 864 grams, making CO2 emissions from an EV less than from a hybrid car.

It now aims to raise the density level of volcanic ash that can affect nuclear plants by 100 times the current level, while pressing utilities to upgrade their air filters.

Reactor No. 3 at the Ikata plant and reactors Nos. 3 and 4 at the Genkai plant top the list of those most likely to be affected by clogged filters.

This whole section is dedicated to learning how to say "if" in Japanese. Oh, if only it was as simple as English. In Japanese, there's four (count them, four) ways to say "if"! Thankfully, the conjugations are sparse and easy especially since you don't have to deal with tenses.

Satori Reader provides carefully curated, level-appropriate content with which to practice and grow. With thoughtfully annotated articles spanning a variety of interesting subject matter and a unique system that presents content in a manner appropriate to your knowledge, it bridges the gap between the controlled, textbook Japanese that most students start with and the wide-open world of real-life, native communication.

It may come as an even greater surprise that bushido once received more recognition abroad than in Japan. In 1900 writer Inazo Nitobe's published Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English, for the Western audience. Nitobe subverted fact for an idealized imagining of Japan's culture and past, infusing Japan's samurai class with Christian values in hopes of shaping Western interpretations of his country.

Though initially rejected in Japan, Nitobe's ideology would be embraced by a government driven war machine. Thanks to its empowering vision of the past, the extreme nationalist movement embraced bushido, exploiting The Soul of Japan to pave Japan's way to fascism in the buildup to World War II.

“Japan’s population continues to be concentrated in Tokyo,” Ishiba said. “This concentration in the nation’s capital of people, products and wealth is likely the world’s most dangerous situation.”

Taking the stage at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Sendagaya are stars like pop princess Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Yasutaka Nakata's Capsule and slick choreography kings World Order, while fashion shows and the like will also take place. A wide assortment of promotional booths will be set up, allowing you to participate in a variety of fun workshops. Furthermore, the area around the venue will feature DJ performances, a temporary food court serving juicy meat and festival grub like yakisoba and takoyaki, and opportunities for trying traditional matsuri activities like cork gun shooting and wanage (quoits).

Just like last year, all non-Japanese citizens can get in for free: register on the festival's official website, bring your ticket along with a passport or residence card, and display these at the gate.

A lot of textbooks and websites try to teach you functional Japanese and ignore the grittier parts of the grammar. Unfortunately, this means many learners miss out of the structure and beauty (and structure!) of Japanese that, while complex, might help put things into place. This primer is designed to get you more familiar with what is actually going on with Japanese conjugations. It won't cover everything and may even tell some "simple truths" (aka, white lies you'll unlearn later) but it will get you started on achieving a deeper understanding of Japanese verbs.

On check in you have the options of speaking to either a humanoid robot or a dinosaur wearing a bow tie! The humanoid robot has been designed to mimic a human being as well as possible. This receptionist blinks, appears to breath and can even make eye contact. Sadly, however, these robots cannot hold a conversation and so to check in you can use the touchscreens to the side of the front desk. Your bags are then taken by a robot too and for left luggage a large robot arm will pick it up and place it in a locker for you.

The cards, aptly named Prepaid SIM for Japan, can be purchased along with smartphones, mobile routers and smartphone accessories at the vending machines, the Tokyo-based telecommunications firm said.

The airport will have two such machines, for Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, with only credit cards accepted for added ease.

NTT Communications said the SIM cards are priced at ¥3,450 for one week and ¥4,950 for two weeks. Both types offer a maximum download speed of 150 megabytes per second and 50 Mbps as an upload speed. If the data amount exceeds 100 MB a day, the network speed will slow down.