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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
Feb 12, 2015
Shibuya Ward plans vote on same-sex marriage
One of the capital's 23 wards proposes issuing certificates that would declare same-sex relationships 'equivalent to marriage.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2015
Immigration detention centers like prisons, U.K. inspectors say
When British incarceration inspection expert Hindpal Singh Bhui last month paid his first visit to a Japanese immigration detention center, his overriding initial impression was that it looked like a prison.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 5, 2015
Film festival gives a lesson on the world of night school
The world of night school in Japan is so detached from mainstream society that many people are clueless as to the role it plays.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2015
Hacker who framed computer users with cyberthreats jailed for eight years
Yusuke Katayama, a former information technology professional, used his expertise to make online threats 'while dodging arrest himself,' the presiding judge said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 2, 2015
Death sentence upheld for Akihabara rampage killer
The Supreme Court finalizes the death penalty of Tomohiro Kato for the vehicular homicide and stabbing spree that left seven people dead and 10 injured on the streets of Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood in 2008.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2015
Conflict-zone scribes fear fallout from intrepid journalist's death
The tragic death of Kenji Goto highlights a dilemma that the journalism community in Japan has long struggled with: how much of a risk reporters should take on when working in dangerous conflict zones.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2015
Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto mourned by family and friends
A video posted online early Sunday morning that shows what appears to be the beheaded corpse of Islamic State group hostage Kenji Goto has left his family and friends speechless and in anguish.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2015
Goto's mother pins hopes on Abe
The mother of hostage Kenji Goto said Thursday she is pinning all her hopes on the government of Shinzo Abe, as she believes he can bring her son home alive.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2015
As deadline looms, Goto friends, family call for his release
Associates of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto called for his release Wednesday, as another apparent deadline in the crisis loomed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2015
Doubts grow over voice, image differences in Yukawa death video
The government says Saturday's video containing what appears to be the corpse of hostage Haruna Yukawa is probably authentic, but less certain is whether the same can be said of the voice on the recording claiming in English to be Kenji Goto.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2015
Families, acquaintances dismayed by latest video of Japanese hostage
Shock and confusion overwhelms the families and friends of the two Japanese men held captive in Syria by the Islamic State group.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2015
Hostage's mother pleads for his release as Islamic State ransom deadline looms
The distraught mother of a Japanese journalist held captive by the Islamic State group made an eleventh-hour plea for her son's safe release Friday morning.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2015
Japanese officials silent as hostage clock ticks
As Tokyo insists it has not 'received any contact' from the Islamic State group, the nation wonders what will happen to the two men it has taken hostage.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2015
Scholar offers secure way for employees to blow the whistle
One man is on a quest to create transparency in Japan with a whistleblower website that has echoes of Wikileaks and promises high-tech anonymity.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2015
Japanese Muslims condemn Islamic State threat; some fear damage to Islam's image
Some assailed the threat issued in a video posted online as an “unforgiveable” act of cruelty, and said the hostage-takers were unworthy of calling themselves Muslims.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2015
Latest hostage crisis involving Japanese evokes chilling memories
Japanese citizens were involved in a series of hostage crises in 2004, including one that resulted in the victim being decapitated.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2015
Japan’s Muslims dismayed by latest Charlie cover but united against violence
Japan's Muslim community speaks out on magazine Charlie Hebdo's defiant decision to place a Prophet Muhammad cartoon on the cover of its latest issue after last week's massacre.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2015
Aum accused pleads not guilty to most charges on first day of trial
Former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Katsuya Takahashi pleads not guilty to murder and other charges on the first day of his trial at the Tokyo District Court.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2015
Half of new adults strangers to romance: survey
Nearly half of Japan's 20-year-olds have never been in a romantic relationship and 1 in 5 has never fallen in love, a survey by a marriage counseling firm says.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 7, 2015
Fukuoka police hand out anti-yakuza manga to school children
Police in Fukuoka Prefecture are distributing a manga booklet that aims to steer schoolchildren away from becoming a yakuza member.

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