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Tomoko Otake

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Tomoko Otake
Tomoko Otake is a senior writer with a strong interest in health, medical and social issues. A native of Nara Prefecture, she obtained an M.A. in journalism from The University of Montana.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 20, 2005
Money makes money for savers of note
It's neither pretty nor fancy, and it's made of garbage. Yet a recent addition to the plethora of piggy banks available to the nation's would-be penny-pinchers is proving particularly popular with hard-core fans of the Japanese saying that goes: "Kane no aru tokoro ni kane wa nagareru (Money flows to...
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 20, 2005
On a wing and no fare
When Momoko Sasaki goes traveling, she literally "goes an extra mile" to enjoy perks that few of her peers have likely ever dreamed of.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 13, 2005
Go! Go! Kingyo!
If you go down to Roppongi tonight, you're sure of a few surprises. Not least, in Tokyo's favorite party zone renowned for its glitz and sleaze, you're guaranteed a world tour of ethnic restaurants, along with enough bars, dance clubs and strip joints to satisfy every taste.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 6, 2005
Drawing on experience
At age 82, Shigeru Mizuki (above) is undoubtedly among the most popular -- and certainly one of the longest-standing -- cartoon artists in Japan. There is probably no Japanese adult who is not familiar with his name, or who has not at least glanced at the voluminous comics/animation series "Ge-ge-ge...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Dec 19, 2004
Mannequin sculptor stars crafting heavenly bodies
Next time you spot a short, bespectacled old man closely examining a woman's curves as she climbs the station stairs, don't jump to conclusions. Instead of a would-be groper or pervert, that man could be Makoto Kakeda -- one of Japan's most respected mannequin sculptors.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Dec 14, 2004
Sake trendy abroad but hard sell here to young
It has a deep, delicate and definitely cultural flavor. Yet sake does not appeal to many of today's Japanese, who would rather clink glasses of "shochu" liquor or wine.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004
Recipients of tainted blood products begin to fight back
Taking institutions like the central government and big corporations to court is no easy feat for ordinary Japanese citizens. It's even more daunting for mothers busy raising their children and not used to attending the bar.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004
State names hospitals in blood scandal
The health ministry on Thursday disclosed the names of 6,916 hospitals and 17 medical suppliers believed to have stocked a hepatitis C-tainted blood product that caused one of the largest medical disasters in Japan's postwar history.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Nov 25, 2004
Why recycle PET bottles if China will buy them?
Every PET bottle bears a triangle of arrows with the message: "Yes! to recycling. No! to littering." But it doesn't show where the bottles go.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004
Lawyers go after reformist debt collector
An American businessman who tried to improve the way debts are collected in Japan from the oft yakuza-linked intimidation route was arrested last week amid growing pressure by lawyer groups to crack down on unauthorized parties encroaching on their turf.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 24, 2004
Kitty collector plans afterlife together as well
Some have ridiculed her taste. Others have called her infantile. Yet Asako Kanda, a 31-year-old receptionist at a crafts and culture school in Tokyo, has never had any qualms about her long-running love affair with Hello Kitty.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 24, 2004
The cat's whiskers of Kawaii
At 10 a.m. last Saturday, the moment the doors of the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district were opened, a small scrum of people rushed in, headed straight to the escalators and then up to the fifth floor.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 17, 2004
Drawing on love
She is a Japanese manga artist with a piercingly sharp eye for human traits and foibles. He is an American writer and language buff who can chat with equal ease in four languages. Together, they make for a magnetic -- not to say a "mangaetic" -- couple.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 10, 2004
South African culture reclaimed in 'Umoja'
Born as a black person under apartheid, growing up in an extremely poor family with eight siblings, having a baby out of wedlock at age 16 -- this is surely a hard life to lead. But South African dancer and choreographer Todd Twala has lived it, and has proved that one can rise above hardship. The musical,...
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004
Talkin' 'grassroots social reform'
"Anybody got a question? Any question?" hollered a young spiky-haired man in a gray T-shirt and black chinos one evening the other week outside the ticket gates at JR Totsuka Station in Kanagawa Prefecture. The sky was darkening, and shoals of commuters were flowing in and out of the suburban station....
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2004
Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image
People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2004
Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image
People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2004
'Onsen': know what you're getting into
Another big labeling scam is unraveling, and this time it's not over beef or milk but the nation's biggest tourist draw: "onsen" hot springs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004
Bangladeshi seeks vindication over al-Qaeda link accusation
A Bangladeshi man held by police for alleged connections with al-Qaeda but later released with no charges filed against him made a tearful plea Tuesday for vindication.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2004
Panel looks to scrap NTT line fee by 2010
The 72,800 yen upfront fee charged to land-based telephone line subscribers should be phased out by fiscal 2010, a telecommunications ministry panel said in a report released Tuesday.
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.
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
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.
Woman dies after train collides with car in Tochigi
A Moka Railway train car
Japan will spend ¥325 million in government funds on Princess Yuriko's funeral
Princess Yuriko waves during the New Year's public greeting at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2019.
133-year-old Kyushu railway station remains to be partially preserved
The remains of the original Moji Station in Kitakyushu
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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