Kyoto Protocol

New York – The Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from developed nations, came in force on Wednesday at 6am UTC. The treaty has been signed by 141 nations who together account for 55% of global carbon dioxide emissions.


The treaty was proposed in December 1997 and requires signatories to reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by the year 2012 in an effort to reduce the impact of global warming. Each country has individual targets.

ancient city !!

I am so glad Japan has this place called Kyoto.

I think I might have found, blowing in the wind, “A Me that I have never known.”

It is a landscape of the spirit that, for some thousand and two hundred years has

devoted itself to spending time surrounded by beauty.

Spanning the ages, a wind bound to eternity runs through this town.

In this [ancient] capital that always yearned for peace (Heian)

History of Kyoto

The city suffered extensive destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467-1477,

and did not really recover until the mid-16th century.

Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets,

and came to involve the court nobility (kuge) and religious factions as well.

Nobles' mansions were transformed into fortresses,

deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks,

and numerous buildings burned.