Tomohiro Osaki - The Japan Times

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Tomohiro Osaki

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Tomohiro Osaki

Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 1, 2015

Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto mourned by family and friends

A video posted online early Sunday morning that shows what appears to be the beheaded corpse of Islamic State group hostage Kenji Goto has left his family and friends speechless and in anguish.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 29, 2015

Goto's mother pins hopes on Abe

The mother of hostage Kenji Goto said Thursday she is pinning all her hopes on the government of Shinzo Abe, as she believes he can bring her son home alive.

JAPAN

Jan 28, 2015

As deadline looms, Goto friends, family call for his release

Associates of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto called for his release Wednesday, as another apparent deadline in the crisis loomed.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 26, 2015

Doubts grow over voice, image differences in Yukawa death video

The government says Saturday's video containing what appears to be the corpse of hostage Haruna Yukawa is probably authentic, but less certain is whether the same can be said of the voice on the recording claiming in English to be Kenji Goto.

JAPAN

Jan 25, 2015

Families, acquaintances dismayed by latest video of Japanese hostage

Shock and confusion overwhelms the families and friends of the two Japanese men held captive in Syria by the Islamic State group.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 23, 2015

Hostage's mother pleads for his release as Islamic State ransom deadline looms

The distraught mother of a Japanese journalist held captive by the Islamic State group made an eleventh-hour plea for her son's safe release Friday morning.

JAPAN

Jan 22, 2015

Japanese officials silent as hostage clock ticks

As Tokyo insists it has not 'received any contact' from the Islamic State group, the nation wonders what will happen to the two men it has taken hostage.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 22, 2015

Scholar offers secure way for employees to blow the whistle

One man is on a quest to create transparency in Japan with a whistleblower website that has echoes of Wikileaks and promises high-tech anonymity.

JAPAN

Jan 21, 2015

Japanese Muslims condemn Islamic State threat; some fear damage to Islam's image

Some assailed the threat issued in a video posted online as an “unforgiveable” act of cruelty, and said the hostage-takers were unworthy of calling themselves Muslims.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 20, 2015

Latest hostage crisis involving Japanese evokes chilling memories

Japanese citizens were involved in a series of hostage crises in 2004, including one that resulted in the victim being decapitated.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 16, 2015

Japan’s Muslims dismayed by latest Charlie cover but united against violence

Japan's Muslim community speaks out on magazine Charlie Hebdo's defiant decision to place a Prophet Muhammad cartoon on the cover of its latest issue after last week's massacre.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Jan 16, 2015

Aum accused pleads not guilty to most charges on first day of trial

Former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Katsuya Takahashi pleads not guilty to murder and other charges on the first day of his trial at the Tokyo District Court.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 10, 2015

Half of new adults strangers to romance: survey

Nearly half of Japan's 20-year-olds have never been in a romantic relationship and 1 in 5 has never fallen in love, a survey by a marriage counseling firm says.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Jan 7, 2015

Fukuoka police hand out anti-yakuza manga to school children

Police in Fukuoka Prefecture are distributing a manga booklet that aims to steer schoolchildren away from becoming a yakuza member.

JAPAN / 70 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY

Jan 4, 2015

Patriotic few battle addiction to peace

The Japanese school system's treatment of modern history is so slipshod that having a rational debate on the need for war is nearly impossible, young nationalists say.

JAPAN

Dec 29, 2014

Shibuya shuts parks, thwarting year-end soup distribution for homeless

Tokyo's Shibuya Ward closes three parks for more than a week to prevent supporters of the homeless from carrying out traditional year-end soup deliveries.

JAPAN / Society

Dec 26, 2014

Refugee recognition is overly slow, opaque, panel tells Justice Ministry

Japan's stringent refugee screening system should clarify the criteria used to recognize applicants and create safeguards to protect those considered vulnerable, an advisory panel tells the Justice Ministry.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Society

Dec 24, 2014

Japan's night schools offer hope of a second chance for many

Takashi Kinoshita, 73, lived most of his adulthood with a secret that until recently he wouldn't dare divulge even to his children: he was nearly illiterate.

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Dec 22, 2014

Airport facial recognition system eyed but only for Japanese

As Japan braces for a surge in foreign visitors in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pressure is mounting to expedite how visitors are processed at airports.

JAPAN

Dec 20, 2014

Japan deports dozens of Sri Lankan, Vietnamese asylum seekers

Japan deports dozens of foreigners who were seeking asylum in a third round of mass deportations conducted by a specially chartered plane.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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