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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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2014
Aum convict corroborates Hirata's claims
A senior Aum Shinrikyo member on death row appears in the Tokyo District Court and downplays the involvement of Makoto Hirata in the 1995 abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 17, 2014
Cultist testifies Hirata knew of kidnap plan
Aum Shinrikyo killer Noboru Nakamura testifies against ex-fugitive cultist Makoto Hirata, saying the defendant, despite his denial, had prior knowledge that he would be involved in the 1995 abduction of a Tokyo notary.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2014
Cultist downplays guilt as trial opens
Makoto Hirata, one of the last Aum Shinrikyo cultists yet to be tried, on Thursday played down his involvement in the 1995 kidnapping of a Tokyo notary, telling the Tokyo District Court in his first trial session that he only drove the getaway car and had no inkling of what was to unfold.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2014
'Missing' U.K. man turns up safe in Britain
Running in fear for his life or just to escape it? A British businessman who mysteriously disappeared from Tokyo last year, sparking speculation of misadventure, has turned up back in England, safe and sound, according to a British media report.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2014
Kobe neighborhood gets spicy with 'kimchi town' moniker
A Kobe neighborhood densely populated with Korean residents is now touting itself as the "town of kimchi," having created brochures that have proved more popular than expected.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2014
Foreign delinquency presents special challenges
Sitting in a dimly lit room at a training school for juvenile delinquents in Tokyo, an 18-year-old Brazilian-Japanese boy reflects on his misdeeds.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2014
'Solar girl' sheds reliance on Tepco for spartan life on the edge of the grid
It was August 2012 when Chikako Fujii had one of the most memorable conversations of her life. That moment came when a bill collector from Tokyo Electric Power Co. rang her doorbell in the west Tokyo suburb of Kunitachi and told her with finality that she had an important choice to make.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2013
Shibuya-Roppongi night bus starts
Back in April, then-Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose proudly announced a grand scheme to launch a 24-hour bus service in the capital. Little did he imagine that his pet project would be getting off the ground just as he was resigning over a scandal.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2013
Initiative fails to lure high-skilled foreigners
After drawing too few applicants, a government-led initiative to attract “highly skilled foreigners” is overhauled by the Justice Ministry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2013
Biker linked to Roppongi killing jailed for 11 years
The Tokyo District Court hands down an 11-year prison term to Taichi Ishimoto, former leader of a biker gang, for his 'active involvement' in the fatal attack on a nightclub owner in Roppongi last year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2013
AIJ's Asakawa gets 15 years for huge pension fund fraud
Kau00adzuu00adhiu00adko Asau00adkau00adwa, former president of AIJ Investment Advisors Co., is sentenced 15 years in prison for orchestrating a high-profile fraud case that cost his pension fund clients some u00a524.8 billion.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2013
Two men hanged in latest round of executions
Two death-row inmates are hanged, each for killing two people in a series of crimes ranging from extortion to robbery.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2013
46 Thais deported aboard one plane
Japan deported 46 illegal Thai immigrants Sunday in the second round of a new mass deportation program that makes use of a government-chartered plane, the Immigration Bureau said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2013
Protests over secrets bill fiery at 11th hour
Citizens' groups continue to blast the state secrets bill with unabated vigor amid concerns that 'merely seeking secret information' could put journalists at risk.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2013
Protesters voice alarm over state secrets bill
More than 1,200 protesters gathered outside the Diet building Thursday in a last-ditch effort to thwart the controversial state secrets bill, which the Diet is expected to pass Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2013
Public protests continue against state secrets bill
With the contentious state secrets bill slated to clear the Upper House this week, citizens have been holding daily protests in front of the Diet building, denouncing the law as emblematic of the "rise of fascism."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2013
Opening the kitchen to foreign chefs
As a foreigner aspiring to become a "washoku" (Japanese food) chef, South Korean student Seo Dong-young faces a dilemma. The 23-year-old student at a Tokyo culinary school wants to stay here and work after graduation, but unfortunately that isn't an option.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 2, 2013
Entrance exams get failing grade
National university exams are notorious for their emphasis on book learning.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2013
Asylum seekers hit record high exceeding 2,600
At the end of October, there were more than 2,600 asylum seekers in Japan, a record high, the Japan Association for Refugees said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2013
Inose denies hospital funds coverup
Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose denied Friday that he deliberately whitewashed his annual report on political funds last year and said money he accepted from the scandal-tainted Tokushukai hospital chain before his gubernatorial campaign last December was strictly for "personal purposes."

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