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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 15, 2010
Landscapes as never before
Being original is crucial to any artist's survival. In the field of realistic painting, though, there seems little left for artists to explore in an age when anyone with a camera has long been able to capture virtually any image of their choice.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 18, 2010
Will Edo Castle's tower rise again?
What does Tokyo have as a genuine landmark?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 4, 2010
Manga's Cinderella story
"I want to tell you a real love story," whispers a pen-wielding Misako, a graphic-novel version of comic artist Misako Takashima, on the first page of the 2007 book, "Rock and Roll Love."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 29, 2010
French patissier's dream becomes reality in Japan
When Antoine Santos was growing up in the port of Marseille in southern France, he dreamed of becoming a pastry teacher by the age of 30. Little did he imagine his dream would come true — in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010
Towering ambition
One sunny Saturday last month, Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics maker, made headlines when it hosted a rare tour of its spanking new elevator-testing tower — the world's tallest — at its sprawling facility in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 18, 2010
Exhibit lets kids live like Doraemon
Doraemon, a blue, catlike character with a "magic pocket" in the eponymously titled manga/animation series, could have been an inspiration for many of Japan's scientists. For proof, just visit Tokyo's Miraikan (the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation).
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 17, 2010
Don't be afraid to ask questions about giving birth in Japan
With women in Japan making inroads into various career fields and having more options to choose from, it's only natural that more of them are starting families in their late 30s or even in their 40s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 1, 2010
N.Y. expat delivers parenting options
When New York native Brett Iimura visited Japan for the first time in 1976, the teenage girl spent an "absolutely amazing" time here. Visiting a Japanese friend she had met at her school in New York, Iimura stood out everywhere she went because back then there were very few foreigners in Japan, even...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 21, 2010
Animation fest sparkles
A collection of surreal, witty and thought-provoking short animation films currently showing at the Laputa Animation Festival 2010 in Asagaya, western Tokyo, stands splendidly apart from the plethora of mainstream anime works that vie for airtime on Japanese TV.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 16, 2010
'Pig Meat' journeys from cute to cutlets
A series of food-safety scandals in the early and mid 2000s — involving, among other scares, bacteria-infected milk and poisonous Chinese dumplings — have made many more people in Japan aware of the need to know — and the danger of not knowing — the origins of their daily fare.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 14, 2010
Event aims to drum up cross-cultural 'magic'
Four Tokyo-based drummers from quite different backgrounds will get together on May 14 for a cross- cultural improvisational jam titled "Dagakkibashi" ("Percussion Bridge").
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2010
Renho: Japan's fiscal firebrand
Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Native Works puts city on fashion radar
Kenichi Kishimoto, 33, and Noriko Yasuda, 34, are a fashion-design duo who run an atelier-cum-shop named Native Works that's right beside the world-renowned Todaiji Temple.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Pilgrimage was the spur for low-priced guesthouse plan
Two years ago, Ippei Seto opened the Nara Ugaya Guesthouse in the center of Nara City, aiming to offer dormitory-style, affordable lodging for visitors. His guesthouse occupies a rented, two-story wooden building that is around 40 years old and formerly housed a pharmacy but is now his 20-bed inn —...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Tending to the city's 'holy envoys of the gods'
A recent news report that a pregnant Nara Park deer was killed by a crossbow bolt fired by a restaurateur from Wakayama Prefecture who was strapped for cash and looking to sell the meat was a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable the 1,000-plus deer living in the park really are.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Tabi-maker steps out in style
Ryo Yonehara is the 30-year-old president of Tabi-ji, a Nara-based company making and selling tabi (traditional Japanese split-toe footwear).
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Gods are on boom
An eighth-century lacquered sculpture of Ashura, the Buddhist deity of war, reached superhero status last year when it was taken from Kofukuji Temple in Nara to be displayed at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, then later at the Kyushu National Museum in Fukuoka.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Slow 'n' easy
This year is the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Japan's first major capital, named Heijokyo, and its present-day home prefecture of Nara is basking in that ancient spotlight.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010
Cooking up a menu mixing local and Thai
Motoko Yamada, 27, the manager of a Thai restaurant named Rahotsu, has lived in Nara since 2002, when she moved to the prefecture to attend Nara Women's University. A welfare studies major who wanted to put her knowledge to work in local communities, after graduation it was a natural decision for her...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 23, 2010
Angelic vocal choir to sing Lennon, hymns
The "voices of the angles" are back.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

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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