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April 03, 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 / Science & Health
Aug 7, 2017
World's first method for mass-producing platelets from iPS cells unveiled by Kyoto startup
A Kyoto startup unveils a way to mass-produce platelets, a key component in clotting, that could reduce doctors' dependency on donated blood to minimize bleeding.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 3, 2017
New Foreign Minister Kono a reform-minded challenger of party lines
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Taro Kono is known as an outspoken, reform-minded politician unafraid of questioning the party line.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2017
Airbnb rival Tujia to partner with Rakuten in push for larger share of Japan 'minpaku' market
Tie-up of e-commerce giant and Chinese firm comes following the passage of a new law giving the green light to private short-term lodging services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 8, 2017
Shinsuke Fujimoto makes his mark in the Korean film industry
Shinsuke Fujimoto is a rarity in the booming South Korean film industry. Despite having no connections in the local movie scene, the Ishikawa Prefecture native flew to Seoul straight after graduating college and has managed to make a living working on various film sets for over a decade.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2011
Australians recall POW ordeals
Former Australian prisoner of war Alfred Ellwood can vividly recall being interrogated and at times tortured by the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious military police after he was captured in East Timor, an experience that scarred him most of his life.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2011
Imperial law revisited as family shrinks, Emperor ages
It's not an easy job, being the emperor of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2011
TPP commitment hinged to interests
Despite Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent declaration that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, heated debate continues over the pros and cons of participating in the free-trade initiative.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2011
Noda — between rock, hard place
Following Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's announcement Friday that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, the focus of attention has now shifted to this weekend's summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Honolulu.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2011
Age questions prompt Tokyo court to dismiss piracy suspect's indictment
The Tokyo District Court on Friday dismissed an indictment against one of the suspected pirates charged with attacking a Japanese tanker off the coast of Somalia in March because the defendant may be a minor.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 5, 2011
DeNA buys BayStars, awaits nod to add its name to team's
Mobile social gaming company DeNA Co. announced Friday it has purchased the cash-strapped Yokohama BayStars baseball club.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2011
Timing may be everything in TPP
As emerging Asian economies facilitate growth in the region and increasingly stand out as important players in global trade, the United States appears intent on getting its own share of the pie in the form of taking a leadership role in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade framework.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2011
Karen refugees snub farm, try luck in Tokyo
The first two ethnic Karen families who arrived from Myanmar under a third-country resettlement program have rejected an offer to continue working on a farm in Chiba Prefecture where they were training, and are currently residing in Tokyo, one of their lawyers said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2011
Vietnam reactor deal advances; Japan looks to accept caregivers
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Hanoi counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, agreed Monday to move ahead with plans to construct atomic reactors in Vietnam using Japanese technology, despite the rethink of the national energy policy amid the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 12, 2011
Nuclear fears reawaken mass anger
Compared with the West, and recently the Middle East, which has been swept by civil uprisings, Japan is not commonly known for having large-scale demonstrations or violent antigovernment protests.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2011
Noda, Aquino agree to counter China sea claims
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Philippines President Benigno Aquino III agreed Tuesday in Tokyo to forge closer maritime security ties to resolve disputes with China in the South China Sea.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2011
SNS users to play role in Tohoku makeover
The Foreign Ministry is planning to invite prominent users of social networking sites to tour the devastated northeast as part of its efforts to rebuild Japan's image overseas following the March disasters and nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2011
Japanese to swim to Taiwan to show thanks for quake aid
A group of Japanese will swim from Okinawa Prefecture to Taiwan in a gesture of gratitude for the island's support in the wake of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, organizers of the event said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 6, 2011
China, U.S. both high on strategic agenda: Genba
While Japan's alliance with the United States benefits the stability of the Asia-Pacific region, close ties with China will also be needed if Japan wants to reap the benefits of its neighbor's booming economy, new Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Monday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011
Foreign, defense picks disappoint analysts
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's choice of ministers for foreign diplomacy and security reflects an emphasis on fence-mending in his party rather than plans to address imminent diplomatic challenges, analysts said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2011
Days of Ozawa's influence seen dwindling
Yoshihiko Noda's victory against Banri Kaieda in the Democratic Party of Japan presidential runoff Monday dealt yet another blow to disgraced kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, who backed Kaieda in an apparent bid to boost his waning influence.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
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).
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.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

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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