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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
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
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
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 / 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 / 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.
JAPAN / 70 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Jan 4, 2015
Patriotic few battle addiction to peace
The Japanese school system's treatment of modern history is so slipshod that having a rational debate on the need for war is nearly impossible, young nationalists say.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2014
Shibuya shuts parks, thwarting year-end soup distribution for homeless
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward closes three parks for more than a week to prevent supporters of the homeless from carrying out traditional year-end soup deliveries.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2014
Refugee recognition is overly slow, opaque, panel tells Justice Ministry
Japan's stringent refugee screening system should clarify the criteria used to recognize applicants and create safeguards to protect those considered vulnerable, an advisory panel tells the Justice Ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 24, 2014
Japan's night schools offer hope of a second chance for many
Takashi Kinoshita, 73, lived most of his adulthood with a secret that until recently he wouldn't dare divulge even to his children: he was nearly illiterate.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 22, 2014
Airport facial recognition system eyed but only for Japanese
As Japan braces for a surge in foreign visitors in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pressure is mounting to expedite how visitors are processed at airports.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2014
Japan deports dozens of Sri Lankan, Vietnamese asylum seekers
Japan deports dozens of foreigners who were seeking asylum in a third round of mass deportations conducted by a specially chartered plane.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DECISION 2014
Dec 14, 2014
LDP clinches hollow victory as opposition options elude
The Liberal Democratic Party handily wrapped up the Lower House election Sunday even as many voters said they were driven by lack of choice rather than enthusiasm for the conservative party headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2014
Hotline advising foreigners on problems from visas to discrimination
A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization opened a temporary telephone hotline Monday to answer questions from foreign residents on anything from visa problems and racial discrimination to finding a doctor.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2014
Nagano farm co-op abused Chinese 'interns,' lawyer group reports
Lawyers accuse an agricultural cooperative in Nagano of abusing Chinese hired under a ministry internship program often attacked as a source of cheap labor.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan