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November 22, 2024
 

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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.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2013
Debt-issuance levels point to lack of concern for debt: experts
Experts say the draft fiscal 2014 budget doesn't show that the Abe team is serious about revising the debt-driven fiscal structure as more than 40 percent of the budget will be paid for through new debt issuance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 15, 2013
No country for small-time rice farmers
In the suburbs of Tokyo, rice farmer Koichi Yuge is weighing how the government's change of heart on controlling rice prices will impact his 300-year-old family business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2013
Popular Dwango to charge job applicant fee to narrow field
Internet firm Dwango Co. has announced that it will charge a fee of ¥2,525 for students applying for entry-level jobs at the company.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2013
Line censoring messages in China
In another example of the dilemmas facing Internet companies operating in China, Japan-based instant messaging app provider Line Corp. has been censoring chats among users there, blocking the transmission of politically sensitive words and phrases.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 26, 2013
Inhyeok Yeo finds fans on YouTube, but seeks glory at the Grammys
Armed with a good ear, a good voice and self-marketing tips that he picked up at school, singer Inhyeok Yeo is aiming for a Grammy. What sets him apart from Adele, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars, though, is that he sings a cappella cover versions of pop songs — performing all the instruments with his...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2013
Tokyo-area teachers of English face three-month honing home-stay abroad
The Tokyo Board of Education is planning to require that all young English teachers at its junior and high schools study and live in English-speaking countries for three months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2013
Japan economy grows for fourth straight quarter but at slower 1.9%
The economy grew an annualized 1.9 percent in the July-September period, marking a fourth consecutive quarter of growth but sharply down from the previous quarter as consumption slowed and exports fell, casting a cloud over "Abenomics."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2013
Mizuho has more loans to the mob
Mizuho Bank has outstanding loans to yakuza and other antisocial elements apart from car loans extended through its affiliate credit company, Orient Corp., President Yau00adsuu00adhiu00adro Sau00adto tells the Diet.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2013
Cheep shot: Mascot Totto-chan's lewd radio comments may be its last chirps
While the craze over regional mascots continues, recent mishaps involving some characters shows not everything is rosy in the "yuru-kyara" (soft character) industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2013
Kinki University fish lab opening Ginza eatery
A fisheries research lab at Kinki University in Wakayama Prefecture is poised to make a smashing debut in the heart of Japan's gourmet capital: Ginza.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2013
Shady loans have long history; laws slow to catch up
Mizuho Bank's loans to yakuza and other shady individuals through its group credit company Orient Corp. may be just the tip of the iceberg as corporate Japan struggles to break off its long-held ties with organized crime.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2013
Mizuho offers denials as heads roll over mob loans
Mizuho Bank announces it will punish 54 present and former executives for lending money to organized crime groups but denies it colluded with yakuza.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2013
Tax hike may induce firms to use more temp workers
In what could be an unintended consequence, the sales tax hike set for next April may tempt companies to replace their regular workers with "haken" temporary workers, some tax law experts say.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2013
Role of media groups to 'contextualize' info
Given the faster, increasingly digital and polarized ways news is disseminated around the world, the role of trusted news organizations is to "contexualize" the bits of information people pick up in various different media, Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial columnist for The New York Times, said Wednesday...
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Oct 20, 2013
Whether Tepco fails or not, it's taxpayers' tab
The final tab from the meltdowns at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 plant will be huge, and the public will end up paying it, either through taxes or utility bills.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2013
Job hunt stressing students, making them suicidal: poll
Tormented by the difficulty of landing a position and unfair practices by prospective employers, 1 in 5 college students contemplate suicide during the job-hunting process, a poll of 122 students finds.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2013
Japanese firm's mascot name earns ridicule
Osaka-based Fukushima Industries Corp. apologizes for the uproar over Fukuppy, its latest corporate mascot, and admits it may change the name or at least the spelling in Roman characters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 15, 2013
Tax-free account seeks to spur investment
Starting in January, individuals who invest in stocks and investment trusts in a Nippon Individual Savings Account will be eligible for tax exemptions of up to five years on their financial gains. The new instrument is aimed at getting people used to accumulating financial assets via small-scale investments....
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2013
Medical experts seek to dial back over-prescription for schizophrenia
Doctors in Japan have long prescribed a cocktail of several types of drugs to people with mental illnesses, often leading to various side effects.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2013
Mizuho admits four execs knew of yakuza loans
Mizuho Bank has admitted that at least four of its executives, including two former deputy presidents, knew that it was lending money to underworld and other "antisocial" groups and that it neither stopped nor sought to hold management responsible.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
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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