Winter is the time of year when Japan is most to susceptible to the fine particulates known as PM 2.5 that blow in from China. The government has bolstered its countermeasures by having municipalities announce PM2.5 concentrations twice a day, but little remains known about the dispersion of these particles, and that fact is that some of them originate in Japan. Experts are calling for more thorough research on the matter. Japan set standards for PM2.5 concentrations in 2009 and began taking measurements in 2010. Last February, the Ministry of the Environment tentatively defined 70 micrograms per cubic meter as the daily average at which citizens should be advised to stay indoors. Meanwhile, Fukuoka City, which lies closer to China than most of Japan, set its own standard at35 micrograms per cubic meter—more stringent than the national level. However, as a researcher from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology points out, “The impact of cross-border pollution on Kyushu is large, but it’s not like pollution from China suddenly increased by several times last year. Excessive concern about human health is unnecessary.” Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 1/14
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