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November 22, 2024
 

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Mizuho Aoki
Mizuho Aoki is a staff writer covering local news, including the current Tokyo gubernatorial race, education and aviation-related stories. She graduated from Hitotsubashi Universty with a degree in social science.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2013
Tokyo dust storm came complete with China sand
The dust storm that choked Tokyo over the weekend contained yellow sand and particulate matter from China, despite official denials.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2013
Carpentry seminars help bring men out of isolation
One snowy Sunday morning in late February, elderly men were awkwardly driving nails into half-finished furniture under the instruction of skilled carpenters at a factory in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / TOHOKU TRAPPED IN TIME
Mar 11, 2013
Residents failed by fitful rebuilding
Two years after thousands of Fukushima residents fled to escape the radiation from the No. 1 power plant meltdowns, many are gradually returning as more areas are deemed safe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2013
Senkaku showdown taxing forces
The past few months have put the Japan Coast Guard and Air Self-Defense Force to the test, as they defend the nation's territorial waters and airspace around the Senkaku islets in the East China Sea, a flash point for potential military clashes with China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2013
For Abe, overcoming perceptions top job at Obama summit
When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels to Washington this week for a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama, his first job may be to convince the president he's not a rightwing fanatic seeking confrontation in East Asia, but rather a calm partner who can work with the Americans to maintain peace and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2013
Evacuee suits target Tepco, government
Fukushima residents forced out of their homes by the nuclear crisis plan to file group damages suits against the government and Tepco on the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2013
Chinese target-locked MSDF ship, chopper
Chinese warships directed their fire-control radar on a Japanese destroyer and a helicopter last month in the East China Sea, the Defense Ministry says.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 4, 2013
Cyclists who flout law face charges
Traffic accidents have witnessed an overall decline in recent years, but the percentage of cases involving bicycles is on the rise. National Police Agency data show bicycles were involved in 20.8 percent of all traffic accidents in 2011, up 18.5 percent from 2001.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 1, 2013
Weakening yen starts to hurt pocketbooks
While the easing yen is a welcome development for exporting companies, it is slowly starting to cast a shadow on family budgets, pushing up the price of gasoline and other daily necessities.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2013
Take a breather from Senkaku dispute, ex-envoy to China says
Former Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa has an optimistic view about Japan's current soured relations with Beijing, saying things will probably be on the mend by cherry blossom season.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013
ASDF jets scrambled 160 times against China planes between April, December
In the nine months, ASDF fighter jets were scrambled 349 times in total, up 14 from the same period in fiscal 2011, says the ministry's Joint Staff Office.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2013
Nation's firms lured by Algeria's resources
Engineering firm JGC Corp., whose employees are believed to have been taken hostage Wednesday by Islamist militants in Algeria, is just one of many Japanese companies making inroads in the resource-rich country.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2013
As radiation fears dwindle, so do checkups
When Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura began checking the internal radiation exposure levels of Minamisoma residents four months after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant experienced three reactor core meltdowns, many were living in fear, not knowing what kind of dangers they were being exposed to by living...
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 9, 2013
Fukushima cleanup crews cut corners
Two construction joint ventures hired to wash radioactive substances off buildings in two Fukushima Prefecture communities in December allowed the tainted water to run off into street gutters, an Environment Ministry official said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2013
Photog finds sense of heart, unity in Bhutan
Junko Kimura, 38, was among the many people who were moved by the Bhutanese King and his new wife as they traveled through Tokyo and Fukushima to encourage those affected by the March 2011 disasters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 31, 2012
Altering nonnuclear principles not on the table, Kishida says
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not considering revising the three nonnuclear principles that forbid the possession, manufacture or storage of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil, new Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2012
Shift to right risks mistrust in foreign capitals
Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe returned to the prime minister's office facing a host of diplomatic challenges. But perhaps none is greater than the wariness, and fear, abroad that his rightwing, nationalistic views will strain Tokyo's relations with Washington and create further tensions...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2012
Inose orders all departments to start tweeting
New Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose vowed Tuesday not only to continue the policies of his predecessor, Shintaro Ishihara, but also to let a fresh breeze into his office, including by increasing the use of social-networking services for sending out information to the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2012
Job one for Inose: stepping out from Ishihara's shadow
The Tokyo gubernatorial race ended Sunday with Vice Gov. Naoki Inose winning the top job, drawing the curtain on a lackluster campaign for the capital that was overshadowed by the Lower House election.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2012
Coast guard needs more ships, sailors amid protracted isle-row: commandant
The Senkaku dispute is likely to drag on for a long time, the commandant of the Japan Coast Guard said Thursday, stressing the need for more manpower and better equipment to deal with the increasing confrontations with China.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

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