Japan Today: Japan faces an uphill struggle as Tuesday marks the start of a five-year period during which many of the world’s advanced economies must implement international obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by an average of 5%. Japan is required to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 6% under the Kyoto Protocol, but the country’s emissions increased by 6.4% to about 1.34 billion tons in fiscal 2006 that ended March 31, 2007, from 1.26 billion tons in the base year …