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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
Mar 17, 2011
SDF chopper can't drop water
Panic spread as reports on the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant indicated Wednesday high levels of radiation have leaked at the compound.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 13, 2011
Seabed split; quake tilted Earth's axis 10 cm
The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that jolted northeast Japan was caused by a tectonic upheaval that created offshore faults stretching for hundreds of kilometers from Iwate Prefecture to Ibaraki, seismologists said Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2011
With trains shut down, Tokyoites have to rough it
Transportation froze Friday in Tokyo after the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2011
Entrepreneur: Turbulent times breed innovation
Growing up in California in the 1970s as the child of issei, William H. Saito recalls how his father imported math textbooks from Japan and insisted he study them extra hard to gain an edge over others.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2011
More surprises likely in North's transition, defector warns
Recent signs indicate that further turbulence is expected when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il hands the reins of power to his son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Un, a high-ranking North Korean defector said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2011
Geisha cuts into kimono market
Wearing a kimono can be a daunting task, where one must follow numerous steps and protocols steeped in tradition to prevent making a fool of oneself.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2011
Kim's son likely to make high-profile visit to China
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son and the hermit nation's heir apparent, Kim Jong Un, will probably visit China immediately following the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 14, according to a document recently seen by The Japan Times.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2011
Libyans stage anti-Gadhafi Tokyo protest
Members of the Libyan community in Japan and others staged a demonstration Wednesday in Tokyo calling for the ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi and an end to his regime's bloody crackdown against protesters seeking an end to his 40-year rule.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2011
Accused pleads guilty of assaulting kabuki's Ebizo at bar
The 27-year-old man indicted for assaulting kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo in Tokyo in late November pleaded guilty Friday as his trial opened at the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2011
North tripled executions to quell outcry
Public executions have more than tripled in North Korea since the dictatorship in late 2009 redenominated its currency and in the process sparked widespread public discontent, according to a recent report seen by The Japan Times.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2011
Multilanguage hotline opens for domestic violence victims
The government opened a hotline Tuesday for victims of domestic violence, with counseling staff available for consultations in Japanese and six other languages.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2011
Egyptian community backs protests at home
Representatives of the Egyptian community in Japan expressed support Friday for the widespread protests in their homeland targeting President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2011
Recent tension, pro-North schools' history spin hurt tuition waiver bid
Flipping through a copy of a recently obtained Korean history textbook used in pro-Pyongyang junior high schools in Japan, journalist Ryo Hagiwara points his finger to a section describing how North Korea's founding father, Kim Il Sung, and his Korean People's Revolutionary Army defeated the Japanese...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2011
Citizen journalists playing big role in China
As China's state-run media works to boost its presence overseas, it is facing increasing competition from commercial media and citizen journalists who are providing more credible content than that disseminated by the government, award-winning journalist Yuen Ying Chan said at a recent lecture in Tokyo....
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2011
Publishers to Baidu: Delete our works
Tokyo-based Kodansha Ltd. said Wednesday it has warned Chinese search engine giant Baidu that unless it deletes from its library site manga and novels the firm publishes, it may resort to legal action.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CAREER-SEARCH CRISIS
Jan 28, 2011
Foreigners solicited, hard-pressed to stay
Despite sending his resume to more than 15 companies, Bryan Cheng, a Taiwanese graduate student at Waseda University in Tokyo, hasn't received any positive replies.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2011
Ichihashi book details life on run
Accused killer Tatsuya Ichihashi has written a book that will be released Wednesday detailing his 31 months on the run after fleeing police who went to his Chiba apartment in 2007 to inquire about missing Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2011
Young men, couples shunning sex
Young Japanese men are growing indifferent or even averse to sex, while married couples are starting to have it even less, a recent government survey says.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2011
Japanese women 'can have it all'
As a female CEO in a nation known for its male-dominated corporate ranks, Kumi Sato says it is her mission to spread the message that despite the challenges posed by social and gender expectations, Japanese women could "have it all" if they wanted.
JAPAN / AT JAPAN'S EXPENSE
Jan 3, 2011
Japan not alone in demographic conundrum
Second in a series
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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