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November 22, 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.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2014
Olympic credibility under threat in wake of soccer fans' xenophobic banner
The recent controversy over the 'Japanese only' banner put up by Urawa Reds soccer fans is yet further testimony to the nation's entrenched insensitivity to racism and threatens Tokyo's credibility as host of the 2020 Olympics, experts say.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2014
Man asserts death wish in 'Basuke' threats
A man accused of making hostile threats linked to a popular basketball manga admits full guilt, demands severe punishment and says he wants to kill himself.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2014
Hirata gets nine years for role in Aum kidnapping of notary
Former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Makoto Hirata is sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the 1995 kidnapping and confinement of Tokyo notary Kiyoshi Kariya and two other crimes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2014
Hirata sentence based on lay judges' too harsh judgment: journalist
Friday's sentencing of former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Makoto Hirata to nine years in prison was surprisingly harsh, possibly a result of amateurish anger felt by lay judges at the social injustice, a well-known expert said after the ruling.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2014
Aum victim Kariya's son not seeking vengeance for death
He says he isn't seeking vengeance on those who tortured and killed his father. Nor does he intend to hate them forever. The only thing Minoru Kariya wants is the simple truth about how exactly his father, Kiyoshi, died nearly 20 years ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2014
Prosecutors seek 12 years for Aum ex-fugitive Hirata over kidnapping
Prosecutors ask for a 12-year prison term for ex-Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Makoto Hiu00adrau00adta, saying that despite his denials, he knew what he was doing when he took part in the “malicious” 1995 kidnapping and confinement of a notary.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2014
Defacing of Anne Frank diaries stirs public
The news that hundreds of copies of Anne Frank's “A Diary of a Young Girl” and books about her had been vandalized in libraries across Tokyo still spur swidespread concern, with people scrambling to help with generous donations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 24, 2014
Should young criminals face harsher penalties?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved a bill this month to bolster punishments issued under the juvenile law. This is partly in response to growing calls by people victimized by juvenile offenders to reduce their apparent impunity.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2014
Notary's son confronts cultist in court, asks why Aum abducted him
Minoru Kariya, whose father was believed tortured to death by Aum Shinrikyo in 1995, asks ex-cult fugitive Makoto Hirata why his father had to die and whether the defendant is prepared to atone for the role he played in his death.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 17, 2014
Provide details on hangings or halt them: ex-lay judges
Former lay judges demand that the Justice Ministry halt hangings until it is ready to disclose more details on how it conducts them.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 17, 2014
Aum cultist Hirata reiterates plea of ignorance
Aum Shinrikyo ex-fugitive Makoto Hirata repeated Monday that he had no prior knowledge about the cult's 1995 plans to kidnap and confine Tokyo notary Kiyoshi Kariya as he testified for the first time in his ongoing trial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 12, 2014
Accused hacker: 'I'm innocent'
The man accused of hacking other people's computers to make a series of violent threats in 2012 maintains his “absolute innocence” as his trial opens at the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2014
Hirata feared arrest in police chief shooting: girlfriend
Ex-Aum fugitive Makoto Hirata hid for 17 years because he feared being blamed for the 1995 shooting of the national police chief if he surrendered, his girlfriend testifies.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2014
Health minister looks to bolster hospital translation services
To make Japan's medical facilities more accessible to foreigners ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, the health ministry is looking to bolster multilingual services at hospitals, an official said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2014
Tokyu launches Shibuya info page
Private railway Tokyu Corp. has opened a new Facebook page in five different languages to cash in on foreign interest in Shibuya, the soul of Japanese entertainment and youth fashion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2014
Cultist says Hirata unaware of bomb
A condemned Aum Shinrikyo member testifies in the Tokyo District Court that fellow cultist Mau00adkou00adto Hiu00adrau00adta had no foreknowledge of the 1995 bombing of a professor's condominium.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 3, 2014
Death-row cultist puts Hirata in kidnap frame
A condemned Aum Shinrikyo killer testified Monday against ex-fugitive cultist Makoto Hirata, contradicting the defendant's claim that he was not aware before the fact that he was going to help in the 1995 abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2014
Zushi looks to tame its unruly summer beach
Fed up with what it considers deteriorating moral standards among young beachgoers, the city of Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, is scrambling to purge its popular beach of disorderly and intimidating visitors, typically out-of-control drunks and people with tattoos associated with yakuza.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2014
Tokyo voters unhappy with nuclear focus
Campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial race starts and voters express bewilderment over how fast the focus seems to have turned to nuclear energy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2014
Shut-in's Net persona turns promotional hard sell
Job hunting can be challenging for university students. After attending a couple of employment seminars last year, Toyo University student Ryo Kikuchi knew he didn't stand a chance of outdoing his competitors if he went the usual route.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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