Tomohiro Osaki - The Japan Times

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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

LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH

May 26, 2020

Let's discuss the drop in suicides

A Japan Times article provides some lessons in English with regards to a sudden drop in sucides in Japan.

JAPAN / Society

May 17, 2020

Japan's drop in suicides may not hold as fallout from pandemic grows

The fallout from COVID-19 is still taking a toll on jobs and increasing the risk of domestic violence and child abuse, officials and experts say.

BUSINESS

May 15, 2020

Japan industry groups offer guidance on how to coexist with COVID-19

The guidelines offer a glimpse into how firms might survive as their customers adopt what's been dubbed a 'new lifestyle.'

JAPAN

May 13, 2020

Japan's 'virus vigilantes' take on rule-breakers and invaders

Officials have reported instances of cars with out-of-prefecture license plates being tailgated and vandalized, and their drivers targeted with verbal abuse.

JAPAN

May 11, 2020

Japan shouldn't rush decision on academic year, scholars caution

Recent opinion polls by the media show the public is rather skewed toward supporting a September start for the academic year.

JAPAN

May 10, 2020

Ibaraki — Japan’s ‘least attractive prefecture’ — struggles to shed label

When the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly broached the subject of renaming Ibaraki Airport as “Tokyo North Airport” last year, the debate touched a raw nerve for residents in the much-maligned prefecture.

JAPAN

May 9, 2020

Japan's hotels in a bind as mild and asymptomatic coronavirus patients opt to heal at home instead

Despite legislative attempts to persuade mild and asymptomatic patients to isolate in hotels, most cooperating facilities are nearly empty.

JAPAN

May 2, 2020

Japan's medical system overloaded but virus experts see signs of hope

The public update noted that the downtrend in infections is giving hospitals a breather but that personal protective equipment remains lacking.

JAPAN / FOCUS

Apr 29, 2020

Japan's health care system teeters on the brink as coronavirus takes a toll on hospitals

Those with knowledge of the situation are stressing the need for measures such as boosting testing capacity, building field hospitals and making more active use of disaster-response professionals.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 27, 2020

A cut above: Tokyo barber launches 'telecut' service as COVID-19 hits business

Mr. Brothers Cut Club of Harajuku has launched what could be the industry's first online haircut service.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 20, 2020

Strength in numbers: A more open approach to tracking the virus in Japan

Like many foreign residents of Japan during the early days of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, Shane Reustle and Jiahui Zhou recall poring over websites run by the health ministry and local municipalities to try to get a clear picture of how infections were spreading in the world’s third-largest economy....

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Apr 16, 2020

Japanese police warn that criminals are making most of virus outbreak

The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan is cautioning against a rise in phone calls from fraudsters pretending to be city officials.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 11, 2020

Japan YouTubers focus on youth to raise awareness of social distancing

More and more YouTubers in Japan are using their fame to raise awareness of social distancing and the hashtag #stayhome to help officials drive home the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic to its youth, a demographic seen as prone to complacency.

JAPAN

Apr 5, 2020

Japanese news conferences illustrate government's struggle to grasp social distancing

With the pandemic showing no signs of abating, government and ministry officials are scrambling to rectify the high-risk nature of their news conferences.

JAPAN

Apr 2, 2020

Abenomask? Prime minister's 'two masks per household' policy spawns memes on social media

Social media has expressed shock at what they see as a tone-deaf policy.

JAPAN

Apr 1, 2020

Cardboard and plastic: Tottori Prefecture goes low-tech to protect officials from COVID-19

In a nation famed for its cutting-edge robots and toilets, one prefecture is going defiantly low-tech in its effort to defend its officials against COVID-19.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 30, 2020

Tokyo firm urges caution against surge in coronavirus-related disinformation on April Fools' Day

A Tokyo-based risk management firm is cautioning against a potential surge in coronavirus-related disinformation on April Fools' Day, alarmed by the recent spread of what it perceives to be baseless rumors on social media that the government is secretly preparing for the start of a Tokyo lockdown that...

Japan Times

JAPAN / Society

Mar 22, 2020

For many in Japan, remote work during coronavirus outbreak is not an option

Remote work remains off-limits for many — in particular those engaged in occupations that require their physical presence in the workplace, such as cooks, hairdressers, taxi drivers and doctors.

JAPAN

Mar 19, 2020

'Coronavirus harassment' surge suggests growing panic in Japan

In the age of the COVID-19 outbreak, the sight of someone coughing in public has become a frequent cause for suspicious stares, altercations and even maltreatment at work, leading to the emergence of what has been dubbed by Japanese media as "corohara," or coronavirus harassment.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2020

As Japan scales down events due to COVID-19, Ehime Prefecture sticks to hanami tradition

The ever-growing outbreak of COVID-19 is prompting some municipalities to urge cancellations of hanami parties, the annual Japanese tradition of picnicking and carousing while enjoying the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms that start gracing parks and riversides once spring arrives.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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