Masami Ito - The Japan Times

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Masami Ito

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Masami Ito

Masami is a staff writer for the Life and Culture Division at The Japan Times. She is in charge of the weekly Sunday Timeout, covering various issues related to Japan, from alcohol/drug addiction and juvenile crime to female sushi chefs and kendama. Over her 15-year career, she has written extensively on Japanese politics, foreign policy and social issues.

JAPAN

Mar 23, 2011

Nearby seawater radioactive

Radioactive materials that exceeded regulation levels have been found in seawater around the endangered Fukushima nuclear plant, but government officials offered reassurances Tuesday they will not have an immediate effect on people's health.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 21, 2011

Electricity restored at reactor No. 2

Tokyo Electric Power Co. restored electricity to the power center of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant's No. 2 reactor Sunday afternoon and will attempt to turn on its cooling system and other safety equipment to get the upper hand on the nuclear crisis.

JAPAN

Mar 19, 2011

Japan abiding by IAEA: Amano

Director General Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Association tried to give his home country a break Friday by acknowledging the Fukushima power plant crisis is serious and Japan is acting in accordance with IAEA standards.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 19, 2011

Other nations continue moving their people out

Embassies continued Friday to evacuate citizens and shut down or relocate diplomatic offices in Tokyo amid grave international concern over the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture and the lack of timely, credible information on what is happening.

JAPAN

Mar 19, 2011

Innkeeper offers to house 400 disaster-zone refugees

A Bangladeshi resident of Japan who owns several hotels and restaurants offered Friday to house about 400 people displaced by the massive earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 18, 2011

Embassies launch emergency measures

Embassies in Tokyo have started emergency steps such as moving their functions to the Kansai region or flying diplomats' families out of Japan amid concern over radiation from the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.

JAPAN

Mar 17, 2011

Foreign medics get OK to come

The government was preparing Wednesday to receive medical help from abroad for the thousands injured by the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's north.

JAPAN

Mar 16, 2011

Overseas aid offers flow in

Offers of help have been streaming in from abroad in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that wiped whole towns off the map in the northeast.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2011

Global rescue teams arrive to lend hand

Facing the chance that more than 10,000 people were dead in the wake of the deadly earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, international rescue teams have been arriving to give assistance.

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2011

Rolling blackouts set for nine prefectures

Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced Sunday that he has approved temporary power outages to prevent a massive blackout in the wake of Friday's deadly earthquake that struck northern Japan.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 11, 2011

U.S. sacks Maher, apologizes for remarks

An apologetic U.S. government on Thursday removed a senior U.S. official from his post over disparaging remarks he allegedly made about Okinawa.

JAPAN

Mar 11, 2011

Matsumoto: Abduction pact no one-size-fits-all

New Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Thursday he is aware of the importance of the international treaty to prevent estranged parents from spiriting offspring across borders but noted Tokyo must consider the Japanese people's interests in determining whether to sign the Hague Convention.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 11, 2011

World Red Cross chief: Japan has crucial aid role

In November 2009, Tadateru Konoe, Japanese Red Cross Society head, became the first Asian president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2011

Mothers make case against Hague treaty

Three Japanese mothers who took their children from the United States to Japan after failed international marriages urged the government Wednesday not to sign the Hague Treaty, which is aimed at preventing cross-border parental kidnapping.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2011

Pilot project's first refugees orientated

Poised to embark on a new life on their own, the five Myanmar families in Japan on a U.N.-sponsored third-country resettlement program finished their six-month training Wednesday.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2011

Matsumoto new foreign minister

Prime Minister Naoto Kan named political blue-blood and former banker Takeaki Matsumoto as foreign minister Wednesday, promoting the deputy foreign minister to replace Seiji Maehara, who stepped down over a political donation scandal.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Mar 8, 2011

DPJ loses potential successor to Kan

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara's abrupt resignation Sunday may have averted even more turmoil in the Diet, but his loss bodes ill for the Democratic Party of Japan because he was a leading candidate to succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 7, 2011

Maehara quits Cabinet over donations

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara announced his resignation Sunday to take responsibility for illegally accepting donations from a foreign national, further damaging the already shaky Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

JAPAN

Mar 5, 2011

Maehara admits dodgy donations

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara acknowledged Friday that he unknowingly accepted illegal donations from a foreign national and said he would return the money.

JAPAN / History

Mar 4, 2011

Maehara apologizes to Aussie ex-POWs

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara officially apologized Thursday to a group of five former Australian prisoners of war for the hardships they endured at the hands of their Japanese captors.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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