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November 23, 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.
A mid-19th century ukiyo-e woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicts Xu Fu’s voyage in search of the elixir of life. He can be seen near the left side of the image, with what looks to be Penglai, or Mount Fuji, in the background.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Jan 20, 2024
Eternal pursuits: A history of Japanese quests for immortality
Whether it's a permanent state of meditation or feasting on mermaid, the quest for immortality in Japan isn't too far off from those in other cultures.
Cars drive past a damaged road, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jan 18, 2024
Japan rings in 2024 with an unwelcome disaster
Join us for the first episode of 2024 as we recap the massive New Year’s Day earthquake and its impact on the people of Ishikawa Prefecture.
Snow falls on collapsed buildings in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 7, as the area began to look toward recovery from the massive earthquake that struck on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 17, 2024
'Noto is kind, right down to its soil': A community's long road to recovery
Volunteers are coming together to help each other in the wake of disaster. However, eventually isolated rural villages will need rethinking.
Shinjuku's Kabukicho is filled with colorful individuals that give the neighborhood its character.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 22, 2023
Christmastime in Shinjuku Golden Gai
One of Tokyo's most storied watering holes gets a little quiet during the holidays now that it relies quite a bit on tourists.
A pair of wolves carved from wood exhibited at Mitsumine Shrine’s museum in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Dec 15, 2023
In praise of wolves
Premodern Japan's reverence of wolves mirrors its close bond with nature, a state eventually disrupted by the ecological impact of industrialization.
Tokyo Healthcare University professor Takayuki Mifune explains how he is trying to re-create bonito broth from 1,300 years ago.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Dec 4, 2023
The quest to re-create what the Japanese ate 1,300 years ago
Professor Takayuki Mifune and his team are hoping to understand, in minute detail, the culinary habits of our Japanese ancestors.
Bears doing yoga? If you’re in the city, why not?
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 16, 2023
Bear goes the neighborhood? Japanese wildlife is on the move.
This week, Alex K.T. Martin joins us to discuss why people are encountering bears, boars and other wildlife in the most unlikely of places.
If you spot a wild animal in the city, it's likely lost. Still, alert authorities immediately to prevent any unpleasantness.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Nov 13, 2023
The concrete forest: Bears, boars and more head to the cities
Warmer winters, less food and an aging society all play a part in why wild animals are increasingly venturing into human-populated areas.
There are a lot of reasons for why the Pacific saury is becoming scarcer, including overfishing in international waters and changing ocean conditions.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Oct 23, 2023
A saury state: How the price of 'autumn's fish' skyrocketed
A fish so cheap and abundant that even the cats would ignore it, the Pacific saury is becoming a sought-after dish as stocks dwindle.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 20, 2023
Table for one? What depopulation in Japan means for dinner.
As Japan’s population ages and more people find themselves isolated, solving their dietary needs is shaping the way the country feeds itself.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 9, 2023
Downsizing dinner: Aging Japan is eating less
As older citizens' shrinking appetites lead to less on the plate, businesses are having to adjust to a new market.
Katsuura in Chiba Prefecture — around 90 minutes by express train from Tokyo — has never seen the mercury climb above 35 degrees Celsius, a benchmark the meteorological agency uses to describe “extremely hot” weather, since records began in the city in 1906.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 24, 2023
Japan’s endless summer pushes some toward cooler places
Amid a summerlong heat wave, more people are showing interest in moving to places like Katsuura that are known for their milder temperatures.
A child stands in front of the Hibiya Music Hall, which collapsed during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 31, 2023
The earthquake that turned Tokyo to ash
This week we commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Items from the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake are on display at the memorial museum in Yokoamicho Park in Tokyo. Here, a warped clock is frozen minutes after the quake struck at 11:58 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1923.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 31, 2023
The Great Kanto Earthquake: A wall of fire, a picture of hell
On Sept. 1, 1923, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Kanagawa Prefecture. It came to be defined by fire and vigilantism.
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023
Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages
Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
A man stands atop a float holding a portable shrine at this year’s Sanja Festival in Tokyo.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 20, 2023
Why 2023 will be a deciding year for Japan’s iconic summer festivals
As the population gets older do we risk losing the summer festivals that make Japan unique?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Longform
Jul 10, 2023
In Japan, plenty of inheritances, but no one to claim them
With deaths outpacing births by 2-to-1, dealing with the assets of the deceased is both a growing business and an administrative nightmare.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 26, 2023
Inside Japan’s oldest village
With a median age of 68.4, Nanmoku is at the forefront of the nation’s battle against the gray wave.
Japan Times
LIFE / Longform
Jun 12, 2023
Hunting for marriage: Inside Japan’s matchmaking crusade
As fewer people are tying the knot and the birthrate continues to fall, a range of initiatives are being made available to those who haven’t given up on love.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Jun 4, 2023
'Stakeout Diary': A killer on the run, two postwar gumshoes — noir at its finest
When a photographer was given rare permission to follow two detectives through Tokyo on a murder case, who’d have known he’d gather a legion of fans decades later.
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Saitama court bans demonstrations over anti-Kurd hate speech
Kurdish people in Japan in 2015. A court injunction has banned acts that defame the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association and are disrespectful, such as putting up banner flags or handing out fliers with hate speech like “Refugees should go back to their home countries.”
China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals
Beijing Daxing International Airport
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.
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.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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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