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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
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...
LIFE
Nov 1, 2009
Symposium hears of new 'pan-Asian' trend
"It's been years since Japan, in the eyes of outside observers, entered the phase of "Japan Nothing." This followed an era of "Japan Bashing" during its 1980s economic heyday and then "Japan Passing" in the post-bubble '90s.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 23, 2009
Yokohama turns Yamashita Park into massive outdoor gallery
Yokohama's Yamashita Park will turn into an outdoor gallery on the weekend of Oct. 30-Nov. 1, with the Yokohama International Open-Air Art Fair 2009 — featuring artworks by U.S. and Japanese artists.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Oct 6, 2009
'Outsider' shares unique take on life, prejudices in the 'real' Japan
As a "blonde-haired, blue-eyed" American woman living in the rural farmlands of Tokushima Prefecture with a Japanese husband and their twin children, one with hearing disabilities, author and novelist Suzanne Kamata has gained a unique perspective on life in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2009
Bike-share project kicks off
Japan's first community bicycle program kicked off on an experimental basis in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district Thursday with 50 bikes at five locations.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009
Let's Bike!
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama could have made a stronger impact at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York last week had he trumpeted another environmentally laudable proposal in addition to his declared goal of Japan cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009
Bike tours offer a new view of the city
Despite long-standing conflicts between cyclists and others with a stake in using Tokyo's streets, Japan's capital can be a great place to tour by bike — as I discovered last weekend while participating in the "Tokyo Great Cycling Tour," a one-day guided trip organized by Tokyo-based operator Alive...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Sep 20, 2009
Mystery on the 'Dark Dinner' menu
One evening in mid-August, a dozen people gathered at Ryokusenji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district for a meal. But this was to be no regular feast, as the diners sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers would all be blindfolded and served a series of dishes the organizers would not disclose beforehand....
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Aug 25, 2009
Socializing on the volleyball court in Roppongi
Roppongi on Saturday morning tends to be quiet and empty, and pretty much all you see moving there apart from cars and trucks are a few sleep-deprived, hung-over remnants of the Friday night party crowd hobbling toward the station.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 21, 2009
Laugh along with mangameister Fujio Akatsuka
Fans of pioneering manga artist Fujio Akatsuka (1935-2008) will be able to soak up more of his jokes, his manga works and details of his colorful life at an exhibition at the Matsuya department store in Tokyo's central Ginza district.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 21, 2009
Yokohama to stage truly magical jazz
Yokohama Nigiwaiza in the city's Sakuragi-cho district will stage a magical jazz show on Aug. 29-30.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 16, 2009
Tokyo bees make honey high over Ginza
Forget Chanel, Cartier and H&M, the buzz on Ginza — long Tokyo's most glitzy shopping and entertainment district — is now all about . . . honeybees.
Japan Times
LIFE / CLOSE-UP
Aug 2, 2009
Sokun Tsushimoto: Caring for body and soul
With his shaven head, straight back and deep, calming voice, Sokun Tsushimoto, a newly qualified physician who started practicing at a Tokyo clinic in April, clearly betrays evidence of his long and rich life experience.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jul 28, 2009
Ability to bridge the gap a banker's boon
For Sanjeev Gupta, senior managing executive officer and head of the Individual Group at Shinsei Bank, his 25-year career in Japan started out with a resume he dropped off at an accounting firm in Tokyo while visiting Japan on a tourist visa.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 24, 2009
Taking out the kids might be a disaster
I don't know why, but children love disasters — or at least, simulating ones. So, of all disaster prevention centers in Tokyo, the Honjo Bosai-kan (Life Safety Learning Center), in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, is worth a visit, because the facility, operated by the Tokyo Fire Department, offers entertaining...
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

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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