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September 04, 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 Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 30, 2013
'Printed' copies of human organs can help surgeons and patients alike
Maki Sugimoto believes that 3-D printers can take medicine — and mankind — to the next level.
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Jan 19, 2013
Turnip-tossing turns up trumps for trader
Yoshio Otsuka's years of striving to revive a near-extinct strain of turnip known to have been grown some 400 years ago in the Shinagawa district of today's central Tokyo recently struck pay dirt in a most unexpected fashion.
LIFE
Jan 13, 2013
What Japan needs to do
With its economy spluttering, large parts of its northeastern region still devastated by the effects of the mammoth Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 — and releases of radioactive materials that followed — its population shrinking and aging at unprecedented rates and its citizens despairing of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 30, 2012
Testing out tourism in Tohoku
Some, though not all, of our travels change our lives; they cultivate sensibilities, shape values and alter our outlook on things. One such trip I experienced was a sixth-grade school excursion to Hiroshima when, at the Peace Memorial Museum, I saw photographs of people who had suffered massive burns...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 28, 2012
Instead of visiting one shrine, visit seven
A fun thing I like to do at New Year's is to go on a walking tour of seven shrines and temples in Tokyo. The hike is called the shichifukujin meguri (pilgrimage to Seven Lucky Gods), and there are a number of such pilgrimage options available across the nation. Each of the participating premises is assigned...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 21, 2012
Kodo to spend Christmas Eve with drums and a crowd
Having performed all around the world, the taiko (drum) ensemble Kodo is back in Japan, ready to conclude its "One Earth Tour 2012: Legend" with a Christmas Eve show in Tokyo on Dec. 24.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012
Survivor pens 'too painful' 3/11 tale
'March 11, 2011 — We will never forget the day. The disaster ...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2012
Products fair touts new ways to go green
A dizzying variety of ideas and solutions for a greener society are to converge this weekend at the Eco-Products 2012 exhibition in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 5, 2012
Pocket Geiger counter is a breath of fresh air
It's so small that it could easily be mistaken for a small pack of mints. In fact, if you actually have a packet of Frisk on you hang on to it, it'll come in handy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2012
The muddy issue of cesium in a lake
Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture is facing an environmental threat that has essentially turned it into a time bomb ticking away 60 km northeast of Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2012
Community art project pops up
A soon-to-be-demolished school building might sound too spooky to be a venue for an art show, but that's precisely where Trans Arts Tokyo is being held.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 9, 2012
Grandson of famed noh actor to debut
Many young artists experience a make-or-break moment in their careers. For 24-year-old noh actor Motoi Imai, his debut as the shite (lead) character in the production of "Tsunemasa" could be that moment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 4, 2012
Yoshiko Tatsumi: Cookery guru serves wisdom with her soups
"Never fight a war with Chinese people, because we would lose," Yoshiko Tatsumi sternly warned, "with absolute certainty," a 40-strong group of mostly middle-aged women gathered recently in her spacious three-story residence set in gardens in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 23, 2012
Doctors discuss a face-lift for Japan's plastic surgery societies
Though it's hardly talked about in public, cosmetic surgery appears to be an increasingly popular option in Japan for people trying to enhance their looks and defy the signs of aging.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 14, 2012
Farmer plows own antiradiation furrow
At the end of March 2011, a few weeks after the Great East Japan Earthquake, 20 rice farmers affiliated to J-Rap, an agricultural distribution company in Sukagawa, central Fukushima Prefecture, got together to assess the situation.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 14, 2012
Food co-op sues Tepco over soiled reputation
Nanohana Seikyo — a Chiba Prefecture food distribution cooperative with about 11,500 members — made headlines last month when it took on the role of David by suing the corporate Goliath that is Tokyo Electric Power Co. for losses in sales incurred as a result of the March 2011 nuclear disaster.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 28, 2012
Yokohama garden goes for seasonal ambience during five-day moon-viewing event
Cool evening breezes are a sign that autumn is here. For five days beginning Friday, Sankeien, a Japanese garden in Yokohama is encouraging visitors to engage in a seasonal pastime: tsukimi (moon-viewing).
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 23, 2012
Hip-hop zooms into schools
The CD player is switched on and a mellow male voice singing a pop tune fills the hot and humid school gymnasium, seeming to soften its ambience like a breath of fresh air.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012
Lover of detail strives to keep a kimono-dyeing art alive
As an expert dyer of Edo-komon-style kimonos whose repeated, especially intricate patterns are often so tiny as to be almost microscopic, Emika Iwashita is a mistress of subtlety and the tiniest detail.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 6, 2012
Play challenges woman's role by examining the life of poet Kanoko Okamoto
Can an artist justify her pursuit of extra-marital affairs for the sake of maintaining her artistic inspiration? Can a woman's husband and her son nurture an amicable, trusting relationship with her young lover living in their house?
Surrounded by Chinese bases, a tiny Philippine island stands firm
A Philippine Navy sailor looks at a China Coast Guard vessel just off the coast of Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea last month.
Musk voices support for anti-immigration rally in Japan
Elon Musk has voiced support for anti-immigration protest in Japan, where a "Japanese First" party saw gains in recent elections.
Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami resigns over alleged possession of illegal drugs
Takeshi Niinami, then-chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings, in May 2024
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Indian delegation to Shanghai summit will give China's parade a miss
Members of the Indian delegation, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (third from left), attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday.
Xi — joined by Kim and Putin — delivers stark warning at military parade
Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.
Tamagotchi hatches 100 million shipments worldwide thanks to ’90s nostalgia
The latest version of Tamagotchi, called Tamagotchi Paradise, is awarded the best digital toy at Tokyo Toy Show on Aug. 28.
Why Stalin didn’t invade Hokkaido still largely unknown, 80 years after WWII
During a survey to collect the remains of victims from the Taito Maru, one of the vessels involved in the Three Ships Incident, a metal helmet was found near the stern of the vessel on Aug. 5, 1984, at Rumoi Port. No human remains were discovered.
More sweltering days forecast for September after hottest summer on record
By the end of August, 8,341 people had been transported by ambulance for heatstroke in Tokyo alone.
Surrounded by Chinese bases, a tiny Philippine island stands firm
A Philippine Navy sailor looks at a China Coast Guard vessel just off the coast of Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea last month.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
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