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April 08, 2025
 

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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.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 28, 2012
Instead of visiting one shrine, visit seven
A fun thing I like to do at New Year's is to go on a walking tour of seven shrines and temples in Tokyo. The hike is called the shichifukujin meguri (pilgrimage to Seven Lucky Gods), and there are a number of such pilgrimage options available across the nation. Each of the participating premises is assigned...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 21, 2012
Kodo to spend Christmas Eve with drums and a crowd
Having performed all around the world, the taiko (drum) ensemble Kodo is back in Japan, ready to conclude its "One Earth Tour 2012: Legend" with a Christmas Eve show in Tokyo on Dec. 24.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012
Survivor pens 'too painful' 3/11 tale
'March 11, 2011 — We will never forget the day. The disaster ...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2012
Products fair touts new ways to go green
A dizzying variety of ideas and solutions for a greener society are to converge this weekend at the Eco-Products 2012 exhibition in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 5, 2012
Pocket Geiger counter is a breath of fresh air
It's so small that it could easily be mistaken for a small pack of mints. In fact, if you actually have a packet of Frisk on you hang on to it, it'll come in handy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2012
The muddy issue of cesium in a lake
Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture is facing an environmental threat that has essentially turned it into a time bomb ticking away 60 km northeast of Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2012
Community art project pops up
A soon-to-be-demolished school building might sound too spooky to be a venue for an art show, but that's precisely where Trans Arts Tokyo is being held.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 9, 2012
Grandson of famed noh actor to debut
Many young artists experience a make-or-break moment in their careers. For 24-year-old noh actor Motoi Imai, his debut as the shite (lead) character in the production of "Tsunemasa" could be that moment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 4, 2012
Yoshiko Tatsumi: Cookery guru serves wisdom with her soups
"Never fight a war with Chinese people, because we would lose," Yoshiko Tatsumi sternly warned, "with absolute certainty," a 40-strong group of mostly middle-aged women gathered recently in her spacious three-story residence set in gardens in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 23, 2012
Doctors discuss a face-lift for Japan's plastic surgery societies
Though it's hardly talked about in public, cosmetic surgery appears to be an increasingly popular option in Japan for people trying to enhance their looks and defy the signs of aging.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 14, 2012
Farmer plows own antiradiation furrow
At the end of March 2011, a few weeks after the Great East Japan Earthquake, 20 rice farmers affiliated to J-Rap, an agricultural distribution company in Sukagawa, central Fukushima Prefecture, got together to assess the situation.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 14, 2012
Food co-op sues Tepco over soiled reputation
Nanohana Seikyo — a Chiba Prefecture food distribution cooperative with about 11,500 members — made headlines last month when it took on the role of David by suing the corporate Goliath that is Tokyo Electric Power Co. for losses in sales incurred as a result of the March 2011 nuclear disaster.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 28, 2012
Yokohama garden goes for seasonal ambience during five-day moon-viewing event
Cool evening breezes are a sign that autumn is here. For five days beginning Friday, Sankeien, a Japanese garden in Yokohama is encouraging visitors to engage in a seasonal pastime: tsukimi (moon-viewing).
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 23, 2012
Hip-hop zooms into schools
The CD player is switched on and a mellow male voice singing a pop tune fills the hot and humid school gymnasium, seeming to soften its ambience like a breath of fresh air.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012
Lover of detail strives to keep a kimono-dyeing art alive
As an expert dyer of Edo-komon-style kimonos whose repeated, especially intricate patterns are often so tiny as to be almost microscopic, Emika Iwashita is a mistress of subtlety and the tiniest detail.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 6, 2012
Play challenges woman's role by examining the life of poet Kanoko Okamoto
Can an artist justify her pursuit of extra-marital affairs for the sake of maintaining her artistic inspiration? Can a woman's husband and her son nurture an amicable, trusting relationship with her young lover living in their house?
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 19, 2012
Politics taint Ahn Sehong's 'comfort women' photo exhibition
Visitors to a photo exhibition would not typically be asked to open their bags or walk through a metal detector before entering the exhibition site. Nor would they expect to catch the inquisitive gazes of various plainclothes police officers lurking in the crowd once inside.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 12, 2012
Queen Elizabeth engineering prize seeks innovation for easing life's hardships
Nominations are currently open for Britain's first-ever international Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which has been created to honor individuals for groundbreaking innovation that benefits humanity — and which rewards the winner handsomely with a staggering ￡1 million (¥123 million).
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 12, 2012
Professor aspires toward the perfect prosthetic design
"Functionality and aesthetics can co-exist."
LIFE
Aug 12, 2012
Japan's Paralympians overcome adversity by leaps, bounds and innovative design
When Oscar Pistorius made his dramatic debut in the men's 400-meter race in London last Saturday — becoming the first double amputee to compete alongside able-bodied athletes in Olympics history — some people might have wondered if the South African's artificial legs gave him a competitive edge over...
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

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