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November 22, 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 Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2018
Unknown overseas, Garigari-kun popsicles year-round best-sellers in Japan
It's Japan's top-selling popsicle — yet still virtually unknown overseas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2018
Japanese volunteers spring to action after fatal child abuse case
Five-year old Yua Funato was found unconscious at a Tokyo apartment in March, her feet severely frostbitten and her face and body covered with bruises that were inflicted by her 33-year-old stepfather. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital from pneumonia-induced sepsis caused by malnutrition.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 28, 2018
Episode 2: The hangover that followed Japan's bubble era
In the 1980s and '90s, Japan saw one of the greatest economic bubbles in history, but after it burst, the hangover that followed was just as massive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Nov 24, 2018
Defining the Heisei Era: Examining the rise of otaku culture
With the number of children shrinking, popular entertainment naturally began targeting the otaku population that didn't hesitate to open their wallets for material many considered juvenile.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2018
Japan startup's superflies may hold key to food self-sufficiency — even in space
Houseflies, the Soviet space program and manned missions to Mars — these aren't plot devices for a Cold War space thriller, but key terms to understand the history behind Fukuoka-based startup Musca Inc.'s project to provide a solution to some of the world's most pressing agricultural problems: food...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2018
At death's door: The attraction of living in homes with ghastly pasts
Television sets inexplicably turn on and off. Visitors who enter his room complain of sudden migraines. Rapping sounds keep him awake at night, and psychics warn he is being stalked by ghostly apparitions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2018
Freeze-dried food guru engages in decades-long quest to take fare to new heights
Apply 140 milliliters of hot water on the brown rectangular block, then stir for 60 seconds and voila, a steaming plate of chicken cutlet curry — that quintessential Japanese comfort food — is resurrected from its mummified state, offering instant gratification with minimal preparation.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 13, 2018
Eternal saints: The art of self-preservation
Examining the extreme ritual behind the monks who spent years turning themselves into mummies while they were alive
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2018
A creative force in a concrete jungle: Architect's Tokyo project draws on love and improvisation
Sandwiched between old residential apartments in the capital's central Minato Ward is the Arimaston Building, an eccentric collage of individually patterned concrete slabs piled upon each other as if by happenstance.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 29, 2018
Mixing music genres into something magic
Curator of the Live Magic! festival shares experiences of DJ-ing in Japan and reveals some of his favorite tunes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 25, 2018
Hokusai: Examining the enduring allure of a Japanese icon
Hokusai's thirst for new forms of expression and willingness to abandon established techniques continues to intrigue the world today.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 20, 2018
Yusaku Maezawa: Japan's corporate enfant terrible with the world's first ticket to the moon
Call it a flashy billionaire's whimsy or a stroke of PR genius.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 30, 2018
Minyo Crusaders sing a song from every corner of Japan
A muffled bass line is soon matched by Katsumi Tanaka's staccato electric guitar riff loosely emulating a shamisen. Congas and timbales start grooving in the rhythm of cumbia before the horn section dives in, setting the stage for Fredy Tsukamoto to belt out a high-pitched, vibrato-filled rendition of...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / IDEAS IN ACTION
Aug 29, 2018
The sky is the canvas: Tokyo startup looks to launch world's first artificial meteor shower
It was literally an out-of-this-world idea that seemed unfeasible when it struck her nearly two decades ago: Made-to-order shooting stars. But Lena Okajima's audacious project to reproduce nature's fireworks for mass entertainment is getting ready for takeoff.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2018
Startup takes stress out of fed-up workers' exit plans
There was the 24-year-old insurance saleswoman who got sick of being yelled at when she couldn't reach her quota. Then there's the exhausted designer who clocked 160 hours of monthly overtime. And the ramen noodle shop employee who suffered stress to the point of developing depression.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 15, 2018
Made men: Tokyo-based 'yakuza' talent agency delivers the real deal
They aren't just acting tough; they really are tough.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 11, 2018
Unsolved mysteries: Japanese fans of the occult are engaged in a never-ending search for the truth
Whether it's tales of hauntings, spirits or paranormal phenomena, Yuki Yoshida loves a good scare.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2018
Flea market apps transforming Japan's thrift culture
When strapped for cash before his next paycheck, Ryo Takezawa would trudge over to the nearest Bookoff, the nation's largest chain of secondhand bookstores, to sell his novels and CDs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2018
‘Deep’ tourism explores the darker side of Tokyo
Hidden behind the capital's glassy high-rises and bustling shopping streets are dusty remnants of red-light districts and smoky bar alleys preserving traces of an older Tokyo — pockets of history Hisaki Kurosawa explores to catch glimpses of the other, more textured face of the slickly modern metropolis....
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Jun 23, 2018
Defining the Heisei Era: Japan experiences a hangover
The Japan Times presents the second installment of a monthly 12-part series that looks back at the leading issues of the past three decades.
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.
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.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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