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April 03, 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
Aug 17, 2004
Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image
People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2004
Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image
People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2004
'Onsen': know what you're getting into
Another big labeling scam is unraveling, and this time it's not over beef or milk but the nation's biggest tourist draw: "onsen" hot springs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004
Bangladeshi seeks vindication over al-Qaeda link accusation
A Bangladeshi man held by police for alleged connections with al-Qaeda but later released with no charges filed against him made a tearful plea Tuesday for vindication.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2004
Panel looks to scrap NTT line fee by 2010
The 72,800 yen upfront fee charged to land-based telephone line subscribers should be phased out by fiscal 2010, a telecommunications ministry panel said in a report released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2004
Like NTT phone fee, line brokers face extinction
Kanji in the window of a three-story building near JR Okachimachi Station in central Tokyo advertise "denwa tokubai" (discounted telephone lines).
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2004
Film shows war's China legacy
The listless face of a 27-year-old woman tending cafeteria tables all day long, seven days a week. The incessant, violent coughs of a retired doctor who has not had a good night's sleep in 17 years.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 22, 2004
Forex trading is a popular but risky business
Once considered the exclusive realm of the wealthy and the reckless, foreign-exchange trading is now being touted as accessible to everyone even though it is still a high-risk game.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION '04
Jul 7, 2004
Net-based campaigning still long way off
Candidates vying for House of Councilors seats in Sunday's election will not have the luxury of updating their positions or activities via the popular medium of the Internet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2004
Stay-at-home sales agents cash in on Internet revolution
Housewife Tomoko Kobayashi puts on her Web businesswoman's hat at 9 a.m., after all her morning chores are out of the way.
Features
Jun 13, 2004
Shaking off 'shame'
In a civilized society, people should not be scared to talk about their ailments -- especially when the illness may have been contracted from medical product infected with a potentially fatal virus.
Japan Times
Uncategorized
Jun 4, 2004
Insatiable thirst for English boosts language schools
You have probably come across a goofy rabbit waving a flag, a grim-faced businessman looking upward into the sky, or a smiling trio comprising a Japanese and two foreigners giving the thumbs up.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2004
Foreigners dominate used-vehicle export trade in Japan
KOSHIGAYA, Saitama Pref. -- There is a bleep, pictures of cars pop up on two big screens, and meters show prices rising.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 26, 2004
Forum highlights human-trafficking menace in EU
The May 1 expansion of the European Union was hailed as an economic boost for Europe, yet there is a dark side to this story.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 26, 2004
Forum highlights human-trafficking menace in EU
The May 1 expansion of the European Union was hailed as an economic boost for Europe, yet there is a dark side to this story.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004
Hospitals tied to HCV fiasco to be mostly named before '05
The health ministry said Thursday it will disclose the names of all 7,004 hospitals believed to have stocked blood products contaminated with the hepatitis C virus -- but not until year's end.
JAPAN
May 5, 2004
Chinese here feel sting of prejudice
Huang Tianshu came to Japan from China five years ago, hoping to learn more about the language and culture of her peers at a China subsidiary of a Kobe-based car navigation system manufacturer, where she worked for six years after graduating from college.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2004
Language schools fight image war
Students at the Japanese-language school Tokyo Nichigo Gakuin are encouraged to speak their minds, and to do so as fluently as possible.
JAPAN
May 5, 2004
Chinese here feel sting of prejudice
Huang Tianshu came to Japan from China five years ago, hoping to learn more about the language and culture of her peers at a China subsidiary of a Kobe-based car navigation system manufacturer, where she worked for six years after graduating from college.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2004
Language schools fight image war
Students at the Japanese-language school Tokyo Nichigo Gakuin are encouraged to speak their minds, and to do so as fluently as possible.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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