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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
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2006
Blood battle is about the past and future
KELLY DUDA
Japan Times
LIFE / DISABILITY IN JAPAN
Aug 27, 2006
Teamwork trounces deafness
This story is part of a package on "Disability in Japan". The introduction is here.
Japan Times
LIFE / DISABILITY IN JAPAN
Aug 27, 2006
Is 'disability' still a dirty word in Japan?
Mainstream society is slowly, but slowly, opening up to the physically ormentally impaired, as officialdom appears happy with a 'steady' approach
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2006
Sole clinical ethicist always has full plate
speaks with hospital staff at his Kissa Rinri (Ethics Cafe) at Miyazakihigashi National Hospital in late June. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTO
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 1, 2006
Parting is such sweet sorrow: and sometimes amusement
Job-hopping is on the rise in Japan as more and more companies bid farewell to the lifetime employment system. But some managers are still so unprepared for the departure of a subordinate that they often behave irrationally -- sometimes to the point of being downright silly.
LIFE
Jul 30, 2006
What's Japan's secret of 'many happy returns'?
Japan may never have become the world's No. 1 economy, and, faced with other rising Asian powers, it probably never will be. Nonetheless, there is one thing at which Japan proudly excels above all nations: its people's longevity.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 30, 2006
Gran, 71, leaves world in her wake
This story is part of a package on "Growing old healthily." The introduction is here
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2006
Preventing suicide and axing overtime pay is a risky mix
More than 30,000 people kill themselves each year in Japan, bestowing the country with the shameful honor of the highest suicide rate in the developed world. To deal with this reality, a group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum pushed an antisuicide bill through the Diet last month to force...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006
Smiles on retail's fastest track
Triple-A-size batteries, cigarette packs, and evening papers with screaming headlines are all at her fingertips. Kiyomi Okita knows exactly where they and hundreds of other items are, as well as their prices and what is flying off the shelves to whom.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006
Simulated calamities
We would be the envy of every railway otaku in Japan: JR East had invited us to try out the company's driving simulator outside Tokyo, where real JR drivers hone their skills at the controls of a virtual train.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006
Lives in their hands
Uniformed officials of East Japan Railway Co. are solemnly but methodically at work. Their train has just made an emergency stop after running over a middle-age man, who is either unconscious or dead. The driver radios the control office in central Tokyo, from where police and an ambulance are alerted....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 20, 2006
A swelling dispute over our waistlines
Japan's citizens are well-known for their slim figures, healthy eating habits and longevity.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 18, 2006
Have you heard the one about . . ?
Maybe it's simply down to human nature, but stereotypes about foreigners seem to be joke-fodder the world over. In the corners of bars, in huddles at parties, in books and movies, countless laughs have been had, for example, at the expense of supposed American boastfulnes, "uptight" British, "humorless"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 9, 2006
Universal access -- if you speak Japanese
Despite 2 million foreign residents and calls for internationalization from within, Japan has a long way to go before becoming a multilingual society. The current state of health care is no exception. Be it university hospitals with cutting-edge research facilities or your neighborhood dental clinic,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 16, 2006
Editor on a mission for consumers
Some people sarcastically refer to journalists in Japan as "sarariman reporters." That's because even though the Fourth Estate potentially has enormous power and influence, its members are often timid, risk-averse and happy to cozy up with the politicians, government agencies and corporations they cover....
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 11, 2006
Massage has its good and bad points
In today's deadline-driven, high-stress society, it's no longer uncommon to experiences headaches, stiff shoulders and carpal-tunnel pain every now and then. While many people turn to painkillers for relief from minor complaints, which in some cases can snowball into a chronic condition, massage treatments...
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 14, 2006
Who is paying the price of health care?
Japan's health-insurance program is touted as being egalitarian, with treatment available at any medical institution in the nation to those people who pay monthly insurance premiums and 30 percent of their medical treatment, including diagnoses, tests and prescriptions.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 12, 2006
Equality still has a long way to go
International Women's Day, commemorated March 8, was a chance to celebrate women's achievements. But it also highlighted the fact that discrimination continues to be a major problem for women around the globe -- and Japanese women, unfortunately, are no exception. In fact, the world's second-largest...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 12, 2006
Refuge of Last Resort
It is 9 o'clock on a freezing winter's morning in Sanya, eastern Tokyo, a blighted downtown district that was once famed as a day laborers' mecca. Now, it is home to thousands of aging men on welfare.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / WEEK 3
Jan 15, 2006
Home sweet 'death-defying' condo homes
Scandal continues to swirl around erroneous -- and potentially lethal -- structural assessments of hotels and condominiums by former architect Hidetsugu Aneha. Few, however, would detract from the universally accessible, "barrier-free" design of most modern Japanese condos. Few except Shusaku Arakawa,...
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Woman dies after train collides with car in Tochigi
A Moka Railway train car
Japan will spend ¥325 million in government funds on Princess Yuriko's funeral
Princess Yuriko waves during the New Year's public greeting at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2019.
133-year-old Kyushu railway station remains to be partially preserved
The remains of the original Moji Station in Kitakyushu
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Kaito Kikuchi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of his company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
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.

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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mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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