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April 10, 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
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.
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...
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.
Wall Street will regret helping the world burn
Wall Street banks, under political pressure and tempted by short-term gains, are abandoning climate commitments and pouring billions into fossil fuels, risking both environmental catastrophe and massive future economic losses.
Trump's tariff gambit leaves Asia stunned and scrambling
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on Tuesday. Trump allowed new tariffs — including a 24% levy on Japan — to go into effect as scheduled on Wednesday.
Japan and U.S. appoint tariff negotiators after Ishiba-Trump phone call
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japanese makers rush to mitigate possible Nankai Trough earthquake damage
Toyota is considering transferring some production in the key Tokai region, which is expected to be hit hard in a Nankai Trough earthquake, to the Tohoku and Kyushu regions.
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.
Who is Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariffs negotiator?
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has appointed Japan's tariff negotiator, is one of his closest allies and busiest ministers.
After a tumultuous buildup, a first look at the Osaka Expo
A large statue of Osaka Expo mascot Myaku Myaku sits near the east entrance of the event's venue in Yumeshima island, Osaka, on Wednesday.
Japan gets a new U.S. ambassador — and he has his work cut out for him
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Japan, attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 13.
Online art scene eager to go offline, at least for the moment
Digital artist Polygon1993 revels in the physicality of nostalgic technology, making art out of materials such as miniature CDs, holographic prints layered with plexiglass shards and a giant custom-made floppy disk.
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.

Podcast

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Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
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