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November 24, 2024
 

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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
Jun 3, 2009
Letter to Obama likens North's gulags to Nazis
U.S. President Barack Obama, who will pay his respects Friday at the infamous Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp in Germany, has been sent an open letter from a Japanese citizens' group calling for the international community to denounce North Korea's notorious gulag system and not just focus on Pyongyang's...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2009
DPJ submits bill to cut back on culture of hereditary politicians
The Democratic Party of Japan submitted a bill to the Lower House Monday aimed at cutting back on what many in the public believe is the unfair advantage enjoyed by so-called hereditary politicians.
JAPAN
May 29, 2009
Immigration bills threaten rights of foreigners: critics
Representatives of municipalities and human rights groups voiced their opposition Thursday to government-sponsored immigration bills they say will lead to violations of foreigners' rights and excessive control over them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 27, 2009
DPJ won't hike tax, Okada says
The consumption tax would likely not be raised for the next four years if the Democratic Party of Japan wins the upcoming general election, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada declared in an interview Tuesday.
JAPAN / History
May 21, 2009
Apologize on record, ex-POW urges
Former prisoner of war Raymond Heimbuch told members of the Democratic Party of Japan at a hearing Wednesday that he wants an official apology from the Japanese government extended to him and to other POWs.
JAPAN
May 21, 2009
Signs in North point to Kim's third son being heir
Students in North Korea are singing songs in praise of Kim Jong Il's third son and potential successor, Kim Jong Un, a recently obtained report said, indicating that a full-scale power shift may be on as news of the North Korean leader's ailing health fuels speculation over who will lead the reclusive...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 20, 2009
Launch of DPJ executive lineup draws flak for Ozawa role
New Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama officially launched his executive lineup Tuesday, with Katsuya Okada, his rival in the party leadership race, as secretary general and former DPJ boss Ichiro Ozawa as deputy party chief in charge of election strategy.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
May 19, 2009
Bike ride puts new spin on fund-raising
On a cloudy Friday morning late last month, 11 bicycle riders gathered on the playground of Meisei Gakuen school for the deaf in Shinagawa, Tokyo, to kick off a 1,250-km fund-raising bike ride to support the children attending the school.
JAPAN
May 16, 2009
Bill would allow organ harvesting from children with parental OK
As pressure mounts to revise the controversial organ transplant law, lawmakers across party lines submitted a fresh bill Friday to the Diet on top of the three bills that are already being deliberated.
JAPAN
May 15, 2009
Ozawa to still play key role, rivals vow
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and deputy chief Katsuya Okada, the two candidates running in Saturday's DPJ presidential race, said Thursday resigning President Ichiro Ozawa will still serve in a key post.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 14, 2009
Okada, Hatoyama enter race
Democratic Party of Japan Vice President Katsuya Okada and DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama declared Wednesday they will enter the race to replace President Ichiro Ozawa, who announced his resignation earlier in the week under a cloud of scandal.
JAPAN / Q&A
May 12, 2009
Historic change puts justice in public hands
With the "saibanin" lay judge system set to take effect May 21, Japan is gearing up for an important transition in its judicial system, in which citizens begin serving as de facto jurors in district court trials involving serious crimes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 6, 2009
Calls to revise organ law grow as lawmakers debate various plans
When Yasuto Katagiri asked New York's Columbia University in February to perform a heart transplant on Hoku, his 2-year-old son suffering from a rare form of heart disease called restrictive cardiomyopathy, the university had to turn him down because its 5 percent limit for accepting foreign transplant...
JAPAN
May 2, 2009
American missing on volcanic island is award-winning poet, assistant professor
The missing American man last seen Monday on Kuchinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, is an award-winning poet and assistant professor at a U.S. university, according to his family and the school.
JAPAN
May 2, 2009
Power struggle rages in North over Kim's heir
As succession speculation abounds amid reports of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's deteriorating health, a recently obtained confidential report has shed new light on a power struggle taking place in the reclusive state.
JAPAN
May 1, 2009
American hiker believed missing on volcanic isle off Yakushima
A man in his 40s has been missing since Monday, when he was last seen at the head of a mountain trail on Kuchinoerabu, a volcanic island 12 km off Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, Yakushima police said.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Apr 28, 2009
Tokyo 2.0 a buzzing hub for online communities, entrepreneurs
For one night every month, Roppongi's artsy underground event space SuperDeluxe turns into a networking hub for the Internet junkies dwelling in the capital's vast urban sprawl.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 21, 2009
The past, present and future of fortunetelling
From the traditional "omikuji" — sacred lots — people draw at shrines and temples to learn their New Year's fortunes, to the horoscopes displayed on commuter train video screens to distract strap-hangers, Japanese society is immersed in fortunetelling.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2009
Japan Web site a life-time labor of love
When Stefan Schauwecker first launched japan-guide.com in 1996 while still a student in Canada, the Web site only featured an A to Z section on Japanese culture — "just a basic intro to Japan, a guide to look up cultural stuff and a little bit of history," the Swiss native recalled.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2009
Launch plan sets off surveillance frenzy
As tension mounts ahead of North Korea's plan to launch a rocket over this country, Japan, the United States and South Korea are deploying several high-tech surveillance ships to monitor what the three allies suspect will actually be a ballistic missile test.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Woman dies after train collides with car in Tochigi
A Moka Railway train car
Japan will spend ¥325 million in government funds on Princess Yuriko's funeral
Princess Yuriko waves during the New Year's public greeting at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2019.
133-year-old Kyushu railway station remains to be partially preserved
The remains of the original Moji Station in Kitakyushu
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
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.

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.
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