Abstract
In recent years, rare metals, including rare earths, have been gaining more and more public attention. As an example, in late September of last year, problems related to this issue became so severe that Japan-China relations became endangered as a result of the China embargo. The term rare metal became common-place when it started appearing in newspapers around 2005. A speculated rare metal priceclimbingand the growinginterest in rare metals has certainly brought about an expansion in the market for rare metals and the recycling business but rare metalrecyclingis not something as straightforward as simply riding a boom.
Information regarding metal resources was once found primarily in trade magazines published in Japan and was considered to be strictly media for those in the industry. Today, however, through worldwide access to the Internet, WEB formats are rapidly transforming. Although the field of metal journalism is yet to be established in Japan, it will certainly need to objectively debate all possibilities in an effort to develop changes to the classical style of metal journalism in the trade information industry by maintaining a neutral stance and making the most efficient use of the Internet infrastructure.
