author

 
Menu
Search
 
April 08, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Tomoko Otake

Meta

Twitter

@Tomoko_Otake

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 / Society
Jan 24, 2014
Over 1 in 10 men have experienced 'paternity harassment': survey
Survey results show a staggering gap between the government's push for a family-friendly working environment and workplace realities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2014
Barakan says broadcasters told him to avoid nuclear issues till after poll
Freelance TV and radio commentator Peter Barakan said he was pressured by two broadcast stations to steer clear of nuclear power issues on his programs until after the Tokyo gubernatorial election on Feb. 9, causing concern among some about possible media censorship.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 13, 2014
Novartis drug's data-tampering reflects unchecked collusion
Last week, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against Novartis Pharma K.K., the Japanese subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, alleging the firm made exaggerated advertising claims for its blockbuster blood pressure drug Diovan.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2014
Security firm offers ¥1 million grant to nurture young computer buffs
A Tokyo-based IT security firm has established a unique program that offers up to ¥1 million in financial assistance to computer whizzes under the age of 20.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2014
Abandoned homes a growing menace
Shinichi Ueda points to a two-story house standing on 7-meter-tall concrete blocks, flanked by other elevated dwellings. Built on a slope, the wooden structure — part of a 1,000-unit-plus residential area developed in the late 1970s in the suburban city of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture — has been...
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
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 / 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.
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Nikkei plunges in third-biggest daily loss ever amid Trump tariff concerns
Pedestrians stand in front of an electronic board showing the numbers of the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in the Japanese capital on Monday.
Ride-hailing services spreading in Japan
Vehicles used for ride-hailing services in the city of Kiryu, in Gunma Prefecture
Japan responds to Trump's tariffs with a polite phone call and request
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a joint press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)
BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER