This summer I took a short trip to Japan to conduct research on the status of Japanese environmental certifications and sustainability ratings.  In my future research, I am planning to compare the evolution of these strategies in different countries, and from my past research, I knew that Japan has developed some innovative but not widely known programs (such as EcoMark).  I was able to connect with some contacts I had made on a trip five years ago to the country, and made some new connections as well.  Government, non-profit, and corporate entities are all working on some interesting projects relating to labeling, and I am looking forward to applying some of the frameworks and analytical tools I developed in my past research to these programs in Japan.