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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2011
French researchers seek raison d'etre of hikikomori
Is the hikikomori phenomenon unique to Japan — or does it exist in other societies, too?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 2, 2011
Shōgi showdown for supercomputer
Eiki Ito, 49, started programming a shōgi (Japanese chess) computer in 1998, because back then, he says, his job with an IT firm wasn't keeping him busy enough. Thirteen years later, his pet machine boasts a computing ability of 4 million moves per second. And it may well soon beat one of the strongest...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 25, 2011
Feeling your way around the Tokyo National Museum
Next time you have a chance to visit the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) in Tokyo's Ueno district, before walking around that home to a vast and impressive collection of traditional Japanese paintings, sculptures and crafts, remember to make a quick stop in the room on the left of the foyer.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 23, 2011
Citizens' forum queries nuclear 'experts'
To whom does scientific debate belong?
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 21, 2011
Try out some laughter yoga with the sun at your back
An ocean breeze, live music, organic food, ayurvedic massage and yoga with a glorious sunset at your back. You'll have the opportunity to experience all this in Enoshima, Kanagawa Prefecture, this weekend.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2011
Unseen fight to save Tokyo from floods
At 2 a.m. on Sept. 21, Typhoon Roke, the 15th and biggest tropical storm yet to assault Japan this year, was over the Pacific 200 km south of Shikoku making its way slowly and ominously westward toward the main island of Honshu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 20, 2011
Hold the cesium: Ways to reduce radiation in your diet
Is our food really safe?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Sep 18, 2011
Web-slinging professor seeks spider silk secret
Shigeyoshi Osaki can read the minds of spiders. Or so you would think, if you see the way he handles the eight-legged arthropods.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 2, 2011
Things get a little fishy in Meguro
Expect long lines and the smoky aroma of grilled fish to fill Tokyo's Meguro district as the Meguro Sanma (Pacific saury) Festival comes back to the streets on Sept. 4.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 25, 2011
Facing death with the spice of life
Motoi Yamamoto was a third-year student at the Kanazawa College of Art in 1996 when his younger sister died at the age of 24 — two years after being diagnosed with brain cancer. To ease his grief, and to make sense of various personal issues he faced on the periphery of his sister's death — such...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Aug 21, 2011
Social recluse transforms himself into 'English Monster'
In Japan, studying English is, and has long been, a perpetual mission for many people, and there is no shortage of books, DVDs and schools touting newer, better, quicker and easier ways to master the global language.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 4, 2011
Rising noh star on mission to broaden audience
Noh, the 600-year-old performing art featuring drummers, chorus singers and masked actors, has survived in the modern world to this day thanks to its loyal, though aging, fan base. But as with many other traditional art forms, it is in dire need of new talent.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 17, 2011
The world according to AuthaGraph
In today's wired world, it's easy to learn about issues anywhere that might affect us or be of interest. So news of a disaster, for example, can be instantly transmitted, shared and discussed by people wherever they might be.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 10, 2011
Company team helps fill Tohoku gap
At 10:50 p.m. last Monday night, a bus carrying 42 people, mostly employees of the Shangri-La Hotel Tokyo, left the underground car park of the luxury hotel adjacent to JR Tokyo Station.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 1, 2011
Nigerian folk tale to transport theater-goers to the end of the world
Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi is a company aimed at appealing to all audiences, regardless of nationality, age, language and disability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 26, 2011
Irradiated food poses moral dilemmas
Mail-order food-delivery companies and cooperatives have long been among the leading campaigners for — and custodians of — food safety in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 26, 2011
Experts urge great caution over radiation risks
In order to address public concerns over post 3/11 food safety, the government should be more forthcoming in the monitoring and disclosure of data regarding radiation contamination of soil, Akira Sugenoya, mayor of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, told this reporter recently.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 24, 2011
Noh theaters to present English performance
'Pagoda," a unique English-language noh play that premiered to packed houses in Europe in 2009 is touring Tokyo and Kyoto on June 28 and 30, respectively.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2011
Coping with diseases can go beyond medication
If you are diagnosed with a chronic disease, the shocking news can often lead to confusion and depression. Just the thought of the illness indefinitely affecting various aspects of your life can be overwhelming. And yet at the same time, you'll find there is so much you need to do: learn about the illness,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 15, 2011
Reopened Miraikan back to the future
Miraikan is back — and in the context of post-March 11 Japan, public expectations for the museum, whose mission is to bring cutting-edge science and technology closer to the public, are greater than ever.
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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