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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
Apr 18, 2010
U.K. chef hails sake as 'sexy'
London-based chef and TV presenter Silvena Rowe is best-known in Britain as an expert on eastern Mediterranean cuisine. But in Japan last month, she had her compass set entirely elsewhere — promoting the "sex appeal" of sake to Japan's younger generations.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 2, 2010
Spring vegetables feature at open-air market
Look hard enough at the supermarket shelves today and you may find some obscure vegetables that you will hardly see at other times of the year. Whether it be taranome (shoots of Aralia elata, known also as the Japanese angelica-tree), urui (the young leaves of a plantain lily), or kogomi (the young shoots...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Mar 30, 2010
A fresh approach to Japanese food
Nicolas Soergel graciously brings two tiny plates to the table. They each contain three pinkish "umeboshi" (salted, dry plums), but those on one of the plates have been preserved for just one year; the ones on the other plate — whose skins are a little more wrinkled — are three years old. "Please...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 21, 2010
Moves afoot to make Japanese holidays a pleasure not a pain
It's a seasonal phenomenon in Japan: lines of cars 40-km long and more clogging expressways; super- jammed shinkansen terminals and airports; and hot-spring resorts besieged by visitors crammed cheek to cheek in the steaming baths, imo-arai-style (literally, "washing potatoes in a bucket").
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 14, 2010
Empress of ennui beloved in Japan
She was a caged wife with an insatiable thirst for love and freedom. She was a famed beauty and fitness freak. She defied royal protocol and was often at odds with conservatives around her, including her mother-in-law.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 25, 2010
Macrobiotic master extols joy of cooking
At age 51, Madonna still has a fantastic physique, and she has Chef Mayumi Nishimura to thank in part for that.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 21, 2010
Feeling the heat
Winter whiteouts, freezing weather and power outages everywhere from Europe to Washington and Beijing have been making headlines these last few months, but as fingers by the million have been going numb, Japan has one nifty weapon of mass defrostation to alleviate the seasonal problem: self-warming pads....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 12, 2010
Exhibit shows joy of the run
Ikuo Tatsumi, senior assistant editor of the audiovisual news department at Kyodo News, has a second business card, on which he describes himself as a "running-marathon photographer."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 22, 2010
Nara gears up for 1,300th-anniversary party
Nara Prefecture, which once prospered as home to the ancient capital of Heijokyo (710-784), has been sidelined by neighboring Kyoto as a cultural heritage and tourist destination. Hosting a plethora of historical buildings, Buddhist statues and spacious Nara Park where more than 1,000 deer roam free,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 5, 2010
Florist sees seeds of change in Japan
Hans Damen came to Japan from his native Holland 16 years ago, attracted by the traditional aspects of Japanese culture, like "taiko" drumming and ikebana flower arrangement. After teaching flower design at a school in Tokyo for a year, he landed a job with the major flower retailer U.Goto Florist and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2009
Japanese hospitals take interest in 'medical tourists'
While many Japanese companies have gone global over the years, making companies like Toyota, Sony and Canon household names in every corner of the world, the Japanese health care industry is focused largely on the domestic market and has long been shielded from pressure for change.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Dec 22, 2009
Expat's Japan remedy: assimilate
Don't be a nail that sticks up. Assimilate.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Dec 22, 2009
Expat's Japan remedy: assimilate
Don't be a nail that sticks up. Assimilate.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 20, 2009
Cultivating pure tastes from the past
Shinagawa Ward in central Tokyo has seen lots of high-rise condos and office complexes sprout up in recent years, especially since shinkansen bullet trains began to stop there in 2003.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 4, 2009
Whole family can go for a spin at Cycle Mode International
C ycle Mode International 2009 is coming to Tokyo from Dec. 11-13. Whether you are a cycling fanatic or still on training wheels, the anual event is worth checking out as it teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about the carbon-free, fat-burning vehicle.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 27, 2009
Kodo brings the beat back to home turf
Kodo, Japan's most famous taiko (drumming) troupe, will cap the year with a series of special concerts, showcasing the members' progress after an extensive worldwide tour.
LIFE / Travel / WEEK 3
Nov 15, 2009
Opening a 'window' to Japan
As a seven-year veteran at the Narita Airport Tourist Information Center, Yuka Tsujimura is at ease handling all kinds of questions and requests for help from inbound tourists who have just set foot in Japan.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 13, 2009
Autumn has arrived, it is now time to reflect, at a haiku meet
With autumn leaves changing colors and the sunlight dimming, it's a good time to evoke some mental lyricism.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 1, 2009
Susan Schmidt: Honored U.S. beacon for Japan
Susan Schmidt is a former editor at the University of Tokyo Press who spent 20 years living and raising a family in Japan up until the mid-1990s. She is now executive director of the U.S.-based, 1,500-member Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese — a role in which she has not only helped...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 1, 2009
Ministry insider speaks out
Health ministry bureaucrat Moriyo Kimura made headlines in late May just after the H1N1 flu outbreak sparked a massive mask-buying spree across the nation. Appearing before a Diet committee as an expert witness, the 44-year-old quarantine officer sharply criticized her own ministry — and especially...
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 launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
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.
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.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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