Traditional uses for rice straw in Japan include the making of rope, floor mats, and sandals called waraji.   However, today the world produces much more rice straw than is currently utilized and there is increasing interest in the economic and environmental benefits of its use.

Practical uses for rice straw include:

• Straw bale buildings like this Modesto, California home or insulation made with rice straw .
• Use in community perimeter walls and highway sound walls
• Animal bedding & feed
• Soil regeneration via composted rice straw
• Erosion prevention with straw bales
• Creation of newsprint, specialty paper & consumer product packaging
• Ethanol and power generation

Learn about more uses for rice straw and find delicious rice recipes at the California Rice Commission website.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

Big brother is watching from Tokyo’s Billboards – a whole new way to capture demographic information for advertisers.

Yoko Ono recently visited Japan and Alfie Goodrich of Japanorama got the photo shoot.  Alfie also went to the John Lennon Museum in Saitama and captured some great images that are a pleasure to share with you.

The Japan Times reports on times gone by – if you want to learn abut what was making the news 100, 50 or 25 years ago in Japan then you should take the time to read Burning temples, busted black marketeers, golf boom and discriminatory bookshop.

If you are a woman and live with your in-laws in Japan then you have a greater risk of heart disease. I guess Mother-in-law issues transcend borders…

Check out the list of products from Japan that won Good Design Awards in 2008.  Automobiles, housing, and technology products all made the list.

Living a no-waste lifestyle in Japan – small towns and big companies like Toyota are getting into the act but that isn’t helping the ecosystem, known as satoyama (a place where humans and nature coexist) in Japan and brought to the forefront of the nations consciousness by the anime film My Neighbor Totoro .

Congratulations to Thomas at Nihon Hacks for surpassing 1000 RSS readers.  If you haven’t heard of his site before, you really need to check it out – it features great tips on how to get things done, save money and lot’s of other fun and interesting Japan related hacks.

Lastly, if you missed it you may want to take a moment to view what some Japan Bloggers see when they look out the window in Japan.

To find more great articles about Japan consider joining me at JapanSoc.  If it’s about Japan and it’s being read or talked about on the internet you will find it at JapanSoc.