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December 23, 2024
 

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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 Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2011
Don't strike Libya, Egyptian envoy says
Egyptian Ambassador Walid Mahmoud Abdelnasser expressed concern Wednesday over the violence in neighboring Libya but stressed that the international community shouldn't militarily intervene.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2011
U.K. pitch: free trade, Eurofighter and Hague
Japan can deepen ties with the United Kingdom in many areas, including via European free trade, efforts to mitigate climate change and purchase of the European mainstay fighter jet, said David Howell, British minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2011
Maehara sorry for quake flight flub
The government said Friday it will provide $500,000 in emergency grant aid to the New Zealand Red Cross to support disaster-relief activities in Christchurch, where dozens of Japanese students remain missing after a devastating earthquake.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2011
Refugee families' dads land jobs in farming
The fathers of five refugee families from Myanmar who have been undergoing language training and living orientation after arriving in Japan under the U.N.-sponsored third-country resettlement program have landed jobs on farms, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2011
Fast Retailing partners with UNHCR to clothe refugees
Fast Retailing Co. and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced Wednesday they have established a partnership to assist refugees and displaced people around the world through the distribution of recycled Uniqlo clothing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2011
ICRC operating between the lines
In July 2007, the Taliban took 23 South Korean missionaries hostage in Afghanistan and killed two of them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2011
Guardsman fast-tracks book, calls video leak 'civic duty'
The decision to leak classified footage of the Japan Coast Guard's run-in last year with a Chinese trawler wasn't an easy one to make, but ended up being a matter of civic duty, former coast guardsman Masaharu Isshiki says in his new book on the Senkaku Islands clash, in which he wasn't a participant....
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2011
Maehara steadfast on islands claim
The four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido are Japanese territory regardless of Russia's actions, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara reiterated Wednesday, brushing off recent concerns Moscow is strengthening its control over the area.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2011
Tokyo assures Seoul amid peninsula tensions
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Seoul counterpart, Kim Sung Hwan, reaffirmed Wednesday that Tokyo and Seoul will cooperate closely amid ongoing tension on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's deadly shelling of a South Korean island and its continuing nuclear threat.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2011
Russia-held isles past point of return
Japan has failed for more than half a century to secure the return of four islands seized by Soviet forces off Hokkaido near the end of World War II, and Moscow's recent moves to bolster its hold on the territories dims the likelihood of any concessions from Russia.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2011
EU envoy says no arms sales for China
The European Union's new ambassador to Japan denied speculation the EU may remove its arms export ban against China in the near future, and that even if that were to happen, the bloc wouldn't automatically begin selling weapons to Beijing.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2011
Japan eyes Uzbekistan's rich natural resources
Japan and Uzbekistan agreed Wednesday to strengthen their strategic bilateral partnership in a wide range of fields, including the development of natural resources such as uranium and rare metals.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2011
Ambassadors push Japan to join Hague treaty on child abduction
Signing the Hague Convention to prevent cross-border parental child abductions would not only benefit member states but also Japanese nationals whose children have been snatched by ex-spouses, 11 ambassadors to Japan said Wednesday in a joint statement.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2011
Joining Hague in children's best interest, U.S. adviser says
If Japan wants to promote the best interests of children, it should sign the Hague Convention, the special adviser to the U.S. State Department on issues pertaining to international parental child abductions urged Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2011
Kan reveals ire at annual rally for northern isles
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's November visit to Kunashiri Island was an "unforgivable outrage," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday at the annual government-sponsored rally in Tokyo to demand the return of territory seized by the Soviets at the end of World War II.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2011
U.N. envoy vows to press North on abductions
A special rapporteur for the United Nations on human rights in North Korea urged Pyongyang on Friday to resolve the long-standing abduction issue and deal with wider matters relating to humanitarian and human rights regarding its people.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2011
Child-custody pact up for talks
A high-level government panel kicked off discussions Tuesday on whether to sign an international treaty against international child abductions by parents but has set no time frame for reaching a conclusion, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2011
Maehara pitches U.S. ties
Japan must strengthen its "economic diplomacy" in negotiating free trade, securing natural resources, exporting technology, and boosting tourism to contribute to an ever-changing Asia and world, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Monday as the Diet opened for business.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2011
Host-nation deal inked, not 'sympathy budget'
Japan and the United States signed an agreement Friday that keeps Tokyo's annual bill for hosting U.S. military facilities at ¥188.1 billion over the next five years and allows it to relocate unwanted war exercises — for a price.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2011
U.S. alliance vital for national security: Kan
Prime Minister Naoto Kan stressed Thursday the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and the importance of the continued presence of American forces in Okinawa for the national security.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

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