author

 
Menu
Search
 
August 20, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Kanako Takahara

Meta

Twitter

@jt_takahara

Kanako Takahara
Kanako Takahara is a staff writer who has covered national politics, diplomacy, business and the economy at The Japan Times. A graduate of Sophia University, she is currently a national news editor.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2006
Media restraint urged on Muhammad cartoons
The Foreign Ministry has recommended that Japan's media organizations not reprint contentious caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, after angry demonstrators torched the Danish embassies in Lebanon and Syria over the weekend and other violence has erupted.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006
Tokyo to leverage whole talks on abduction issue
In a move to pressure North Korea a day before bilateral talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang are to start in Beijing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday that Tokyo may consider abandoning the three-track talks on security, abduction and normalization if there is no progress on the abduction issue.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2006
Three-prong North Korea talks set for Feb. 4
Japan and North Korea will begin the first of three-track normalization talks on Feb. 4 in Beijing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006
Russian plane intruded while tracking freighter
A Russian aircraft violated Japanese airspace seven times Wednesday night off northern Hokkaido, government officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2006
U.S. official tries to play down risky beef shipment
U.S. agricultural official J.B. Penn tried Tuesday to minimize the impact of a recent shipment of banned U.S. beef material, saying it was "an isolated incident" carried out by a meatpacker inexperienced in export procedures.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006
Pyongyang may hold secret info on missiles
Confidential data on a Defense Agency surface-to-air missile system may have been leaked to a group affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) in 1995, the Defense Agency said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2006
Zoellick rues faulty beef shipment, new ban
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said Monday it was "an unacceptable mistake" that a shipment of U.S. beef that arrived in Japan contained bone parts in violation of an accord on preventing mad cow disease, prompting Tokyo to once again ban American beef.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2006
Future more important than past: Aso to China
Japan hopes China will not be overly concerned about issues related to history and look at the broader bilateral relationship, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday in a diplomatic policy speech.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006
New agency not needed to guide ODA policy: Aso
The government should set up a policy body under the prime minister to deliberate the use of official development assistance and not create a new agency, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006
Yasukuni 'nightmare' for ties: Seoul ambassador
South Korea's ambassador to Japan called Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine a "nightmare" -- the sole issue damaging what could have been more amicable ties between the two neighbors.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005
Overseas challenges attractive for JICA senior volunteers
When Setsuko Inoue was 57 years old, she quit her job as a principal at an elementary school in Tokyo's Suginami Ward and served as a volunteer worker for a day-care center for physically and mentally disabled children in Nepal.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005
New Pyongyang approach needed: summit architect
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine and his surprise visit to Pyongyang in 2002 all reflect a diplomatic decision to defy "gaiatsu," or foreign pressure, a former top diplomat recently reckoned.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2005
Missile shield project to proceed
The government formally decided Saturday to begin joint development of a next-generation interceptor missile with the United States in April -- a move critics say will create tension in East Asia.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2005
China posing a threat: Aso
A Beijing spokesman Thursday called remarks by Foreign Minister Taro Aso on China posing a threat "highly irresponsible" and questioned his intentions. Now is the wrong time for a meeting between Aso and his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also a press briefing....
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2005
Pyongyang talks to push three topics
Tokyo will try to get Pyongyang to commit to "three-track talks" on the abductions, security and settlement of Japan's past harsh rule during their weekend bilateral meeting, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2005
Abductees' multinational kin unite
People from Thailand, Lebanon, South Korea and Japan whose kin were allegedly abducted to North Korea vowed Wednesday to join hands to seek the return of their loved-ones.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2005
ODA outlay marks 3.4% fall
The Finance Ministry on Tuesday allocated 759 billion yen for official development assistance for fiscal 2006, down 3.4 percent from the previous year.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005
Host-nation support pact pared
Japan and the United States agreed Friday to extend a bilateral special accord on host-nation support for U.S. forces in Japan for two years and not the usual five due to the ongoing U.S. military realignment talks between the two nations.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005
SDF mission in Iraq extended; June exit planned
The government formally endorsed a revised plan Thursday to extend the Ground Self-Defense Force's humanitarian mission in Samawah, southern Iraq, for another year while at the same time signaling the troops' withdrawal by next summer.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2005
Panel OKs SDF's Iraq extension
A key policy panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved on Wednesday a one-year extension for the Ground Self-Defense Force's mission in Iraq.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Osaka fire kills two firefighters and leaves four injured
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire in the Dotonbori district in the city of Osaka on Monday.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
Two Japanese nationals shot dead in Manila
Commuters cross the street through traffic in Manila.
A factory town in crisis shows Japan’s fading manufacturing era
Nissan workers walk outside its Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Nissan plans to shut the plant by the end of fiscal 2027.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Chef Kei Kobayashi is France's only Japanese chef with three Michelin stars.
In preserving Japanese hospitality, ‘details are everything’
Beniya Mukayu, a traditional "ryokan" inn located in Ishikawa Prefecture, considers itself at "the heart of onsen towns, local residents, farmers, fishermen, sake brewers and artisans" — all of which need new, sustainable methods of serving visitors to survive into the future.
A seaside hotel built on competitive Japanese cycling
In a region more associated with art, Keirin Hotel 10 takes a decidedly more athletic approach to attracting tourists.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy
Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER