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November 21, 2024
 

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Tomohiro Osaki

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Tomohiro Osaki
Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, makes a speech at a campaign event for the Lower House election, in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2024
In tight Japan election, candidates make last-ditch appeals
Opinion polls have suggested the ruling bloc might fall short of a majority, delivering a potentially devastating blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Visitors enter a haunted house at the Namjatown indoor theme park in Tokyo on July 30.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 7, 2024
Japanese beat the heat in 'liver-chilling' haunted houses
A visit to a haunted house is seen as a refreshing respite in Japan from the summer's heat and humidity.
People holds a banner saying "Protect children from joint custody after divorce" during a rally outside the parliament building in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jun 25, 2024
Gender gap fuels disputes as Japan gets joint custody
The change has proved polarizing in a country where campaigners say sole custody acts as a bulwark against forms of domestic abuse.
Then Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington in January 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2024
Japan lawmakers create group to investigate UFO security 'threat'
The nonpartisan group, which counts former defense ministers among its 80-plus members, will urge Japan to ramp up abilities to detect and analyze UFOs.
People take selfies at a pop-up shop for the Japanese volleyball manga series "Haikyu!!" in Tokyo on April 19. Men's volleyball is flying high in Japan with the national team ranked fourth globally ahead of the Paris Olympics.
CULTURE / Books
May 22, 2024
'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Olympic volleyball manga mania in Japan
"Haikyu!!" has sold 60 million copies since its 2012 inception, and has been turned into an anime series and a film.
Toyota said its group net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March nearly doubled from the previous year to hit a record high, due to robust sales of hybrid vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2024
Toyota posts record net profit on weak yen and strong hybrid sales
The carmaker saw a 31% jump in sales of hybrid vehicles, bringing the total to 3.7 million, while sales of purely electric cars were 116,500.
Ryohei Suzuki is plays assassin and detective Ryo Saeba in a new live-action "City Hunter" remake from Netflix.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2024
'City Hunter' manga hero drops the sexism for new live-action film
Lead actor Ryohei Suzuki says production had to strike a balance between his character's reputation and modern sensibilities.
A traditional Ainu preserved food called satchep (dried fish) is made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, in December.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024
Japan court denies fishing rights to Ainu people
It was the first court decision on Indigenous rights related to Ainu people.
People exit the platform at a train station along the Yamanote Line in Tokyo in 1986. A time-traveling TV comedy with a bawdy middle-aged hero from the era has become a big hit in Japan, juxtaposing brash 1980s attitudes with the more politically correct present day.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 29, 2024
Satire TV show strikes a generation-spanning chord in Japan
"Extremely Inappropriate" uses a time-traveling protagonist to humorously highlight the gap between attitudes of the 1980s and the 2020s.
A man, who said he was jailed for two years, speaks on condition of anonymity in temporary housing for former prisoners in Tokyo. Criminal recruits in Japan are being "exploited and disposed of as pawns" by gang leaders, the National Police Agency has said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2023
Why Japan's gangs are recruiting online
For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone willing to commit crimes to earn money.
Human Rights Watch Asia program officer Teppei Kasai (center) speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2023
Japan women prisoners suffer serious abuse: Human Rights Watch
Handcuffs during pregnancy, separation from newborn babies and insufficient care for elderly inmates are among the abuses suffered, the rights group said.
Fishermen work at a port in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 24.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2023
Japan boosts fishing sector aid after Fukushima water release
The increased aid comes as more than 100 fishermen and locals living near Fukushima prepare to file a lawsuit this week seeking to stop the discharge.
From June to August, Japan's weather agency recorded "considerably higher" average summer temperatures in "northern, eastern, and western Japan."
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2023
Record shattered as Japan sees hottest summer ever
From June to August, the weather agency recorded "considerably higher" average summer temperatures in "northern, eastern, and western Japan."
Hinata Miyazawa scored five goals in Japan's first four matches at the Women's World Cup.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 10, 2023
Hinata Miyazawa leading charge for Japan at Women's World Cup
Hinata Miyazawa had never been prolific before this year's Women's World Cup but has emerged as an unlikely star during the tournament.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 23, 2023
Japan's macho cheerleaders fight to save a tradition
Dressed in old-fashioned, school-style uniforms, cheering squads are a mass of black at college baseball games as they shout out chants and bang taiko drums.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2023
'Deeply hurt': Anti-trans hostility rises in Japan
Disinformation 'linking transgender women to sexual violence in public spaces' is being 'disseminated extremely widely,' the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation warned earlier this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2023
Japanese officials call for Mount Fuji crowd control
Authorities have warned that an 'unprecedented' number of people were expected to tackle its steep symmetrical slopes this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
May 12, 2023
The 'Black Ships' of anime: Streaming giants are in a battle for supremacy
Services like Netflix are coming into the anime-merchandising complex and shaking things up by focusing on productions that cater to niche fans.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2023
Toyota beat profit forecast in fiscal '22, upbeat on sales for year ahead
The world's top-selling automaker said it also expects profit to increase in the year ahead on 'improvements in semiconductor supply and the efforts of production sites.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 28, 2023
A genre of anime known as 'isekai' promises the ultimate do-over. And fans love it.
What if you were able to escape the doldrums of your current life and start fresh? That's the premise offered by a genre of anime that is increasing in popularity.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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