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April 05, 2025
 

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Alex K.T. Martin

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Alex K.T. Martin
Alex K.T. Martin is a Tokyo-based journalist and senior writer at The Japan Times, primarily focusing on feature stories. Previously he was a Tokyo correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 23, 2011
Japan, U.S. can't manage to shake Futenma headache
High-level security talks between Japan and the United States held Tuesday in Washington canceled the 2014 deadline to move the contentious Futenma air base in Okinawa and highlighted the main issue that is likely to continue complicating the bilateral relationship.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2011
Don't count Ozawa out until he is
Over the decades he's been dubbed the "shadow shogun," "the destroyer" and "the backroom fixer" for his powerful influence in the political arena and penchant for shaking up governments with his "strong hand."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2011
Peru trade minister applauds Japan EPA
The recent signing of the Japan-Peru free-trade agreement is beneficial for both nations in boosting trade and opening up investment opportunities, Peru's trade minister said Wednesday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 3, 2011
Kan buys time but cedes advantage to opposition
Prime Minister Naoto Kan handily prevailed over an opposition-backed no-confidence motion Thursday, in part because he compromised with foes within his Democratic Party of Japan to step down in the near future after he feels he has accomplished his disaster-response duties.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2011
Japan and Peru sign free-trade agreement
Japan and Peru signed a free-trade agreement Tuesday evening that will eliminate tariffs on goods accounting for about 99 percent of trade between the two countries in 10 years.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2011
G-8 differ in reactions to Fukushima
While the Group of Eight wrapped up their two-day summit in Deauville, France, by agreeing on the need to better define international standards for nuclear safety, its member nations differ in their reactions to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
JAPAN
May 23, 2011
Kan, Wen, Lee bolster disaster plans
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Chinese and South Korean counterparts agreed Sunday to enhance cooperation on a range of programs — including nuclear safety and disaster management — in light of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN
May 18, 2011
Vague plan for nuke evacuees
The government released a plan Tuesday outlining when people forced to evacuate due to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture might be able to leave their shelters and go home, setting a tentative target of January.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 17, 2011
When it comes to mighty Tepco, pride goes before the fall
Until quite recently, landing a job at Tokyo Electric Power Co., Japan's largest and most powerful electric utility, meant a lifetime of steady employment and generous paychecks, a status envied and often likened to that of a civil servant.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 7, 2011
In search of a nuclear disposal site
Roughly 300 km northwest of Finland's capital, Helsinki, is the island of Olkiluoto, home to two nuclear power plants and the potential site for one of the world's first permanent underground high-level nuclear waste repositories.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2011
Military flexes relief might, gains newfound esteem
In a famous speech former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida gave at the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony in February 1957, he had insightful advice to give about joining the Self-Defense Forces.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2011
Farmers struggle amid tsunami aftermath
SENDAI — Clearing out the piles of mud and rubble that have ruined his expensive farm machinery and covered the first floor of his house, Kiichi Endo let out a short sigh thinking of the years it will take before he can grow crops again on soil damaged by seawater.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2011
JET post best, not 'pityfest'
SHICHIGAHAMA, Miyagi Pref. — There is a picture folder in Marti McElreath's Facebook account that chronicles her time in Shichigahama, a town located on a small peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture less than an hour's drive from Sendai and where she has been working since last summer under the Japan Exchange...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2011
Relief workers must adjust quickly
Numerous relief organizations, volunteer groups and concerned individuals have offered support by distributing goods and lending a helping hand in the earthquake- and tsunami-hammered Tohoku region.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2011
Tsunami-ravaged Ishinomaki slowly sets off on long road to recovery
Self-Defense Forces vehicles kick up clouds of dust as they make their way through narrow streets cleared through the piles of crushed houses, shops and fishing boats scattered like broken toys by the massive tsunami that killed thousands and flooded nearly half of this once beautiful city.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2011
No. 3 cooling pump test-run readied
Work to restore key equipment at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's crippled reactors continued Thursday, despite reports of smoke rising from reactors No. 1 through 4.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2011
Tepco puts focus on reactivating cooling pumps at reactors 3, 4
Work continued Wednesday to restore electricity to key equipment at the crippled nuclear reactors in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a day after electricity was restored to all six reactors via outside power sources.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2011
All reactors linked to outside power
Work to restore electricity and crucial cooling systems at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant resumed Tuesday, a day after workers were forced to evacuate when unidentified smoke spewed from reactors No. 2 and No. 3.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 20, 2011
Lowdown on nuclear crisis and potential scenarios
Frantic efforts to cool down the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's overheating reactors and spent fuel rods are continuing, as workers rush to prevent highly toxic radiation from being released into the atmosphere.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2011
Emi Meyer "Suitcase of Stones"
Jazz pianist/vocalist Emi Meyer's third studio album, "Suitcase of Stones," has the artist singing in English again following last year's all-Japanese outing "Passport." The Kyoto-born Seattle native delivers a diverse range of jazz-, blues- and reggae-influenced original compositions in what has become...
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

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

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
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