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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
Jun 29, 2010
No regrets about exit: Fukushima
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said she has no regrets about leaving the ruling coalition and will only consider returning if the Democratic Party of Japan rules out the Henoko coast as the relocation site for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa.
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jun 26, 2010
New Komeito's leader lays into 'wavering' DPJ, rules out coalition
New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi denounced the ruling Democratic Party of Japan for wavering in its policies and not keeping its promises with the public, and said his party has no plan to enter into a coalition with the DPJ.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2010
Karzai hints key donor Japan's firms may get leg up on minerals
Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged corporate Japan on Friday to explore his country's untapped mineral resources that, according to a recent U.S. geological survey, may be worth more than $1 trillion.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010
Funding will be spent accountably: Karzai
Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised Thursday that Japan's financial aid of up to $5 billion will be put to the best possible use.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2010
Ginowan mayor, a base foe, may run for governor
The mayor of Ginowan, the site of Okinawa's contentious U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, hinted Wednesday he may run in the gubernatorial election scheduled for November and threatened to throw a spanner in the process of relocating the base within the prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2010
Envoys to Greece, China tapped from business
A former top executive of Nomura Securities Co. will become ambassador to Greece, the government announced Tuesday, on the heels of its appointment of an adviser to trading house Itochu Corp. as the next envoy to China.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2010
Okada, Kitazawa hope to get past contentious base plan
Reappointed Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said early Wednesday one of their key tasks in new Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration will be to follow through with Japan's agreement with Washington to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 8, 2010
Whether covered or brazen, tattoos make a statement
Tattoos have long occupied a place in Japanese society, generally in the shadows of the underworld and the realm of taboo.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2010
Kan needs to balance U.S. ties, China's clout
The new administration Prime Minister Naoto Kan will form next week won't have much time to act when it comes to foreign affairs.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2010
Hoped-for Chinese stand against North not in cards
Officially, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing have vowed to keep in close contact over North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, but critics don't expect China to join other countries in adopting a United Nations resolution against Pyongyang.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2010
Wen open to treaty to end gas field row
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed Monday in Tokyo with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to begin bilateral negotiations on a treaty over gas fields in the East China Sea.
JAPAN
May 29, 2010
Hatoyama to woo Wen for united front against North
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will arrive Sunday on a three-day visit to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who will try to persuade the Chinese leader to form a united front against North Korea, diplomats and analysts say.
JAPAN
May 29, 2010
Fukushima fired from Cabinet over Futenma
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday booted consumer affairs minister Mizuho Fukushima out of his Cabinet after she opposed a bilateral agreement between Japan and the United States to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa.
JAPAN
May 22, 2010
Ink Hague abduction pact: Clinton
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged Japan to sign the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and thus resolve a long-running problem.
JAPAN
May 22, 2010
Clinton: Sinking also threat to Japan
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday in Tokyo that North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship posed a threat to Japan and agreed with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to keep in close contact over the provocation.
JAPAN
May 21, 2010
Hatoyama slams North over Cheonan sinking
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday denounced the sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul has blamed on North Korea but did not elaborate on how Japan might respond to the incident.
JAPAN
May 20, 2010
Japan, Australia sign bilateral defense logistics agreement
Japan and Australia signed a bilateral defense logistics agreement Wednesday in Tokyo to strengthen security cooperation between the two nations.
JAPAN / CUSTODY OR ABDUCTION
May 14, 2010
Returning to Japan with kids was only safe option, two mothers say
It was a typical love story for Kyoko Yamaguchi. The couple met in Europe, fell in love, married and later had a son.
JAPAN / CUSTODY OR ABDUCTION
May 14, 2010
Experts divided on signing 'parental kidnapping' treaty
On the FBI's Web site there is a section for "parental kidnapping," listing parents, including Japanese women, wanted for allegedly kidnapping their own children.
JAPAN
May 13, 2010
Israel foreign minister sees N. Korea, Iran, Syria in 'axis of evil'
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister and deputy prime minister, on Wednesday slammed the nuclear activities of North Korea and Iran as the biggest threat to the international community, but he avoided answering questions about his own country's nuclear development.
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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