author

 
Menu
Search
 
September 04, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Tomoko Otake

Meta

Twitter

@Tomoko_Otake

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
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 9, 2011
Miraikan uses anime to teach
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront district has unveiled a new anime program that is both fun and educational for families.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 4, 2011
Tenten Hosokawa: Drawing the blues away
In the last few decades, clinical depression in Japan has emerged from its longstanding obscurity shrouded in shame and guilt to becoming far more openly recognized as a national disease.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 25, 2011
Charity event for Nara to help storm victims
The Nara Mahoroba-kan, the pilot store and tourism information center run by the Nara Prefectural Government in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district, is hosting a series of events to help communities and businesses affected by torrential rain and typhoons that hit the southern parts of prefecture earlier this...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 25, 2011
Saitama B-class meals vie for public honor
If you missed the B1 Gold Grand Prix of so-called B-class cuisines in Hyogo this month, The 9th Saitama B-class Local Gourmet King Championship should satisfy your appetite.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2011
French researchers seek raison d'etre of hikikomori
Is the hikikomori phenomenon unique to Japan — or does it exist in other societies, too?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 2, 2011
Shōgi showdown for supercomputer
Eiki Ito, 49, started programming a shōgi (Japanese chess) computer in 1998, because back then, he says, his job with an IT firm wasn't keeping him busy enough. Thirteen years later, his pet machine boasts a computing ability of 4 million moves per second. And it may well soon beat one of the strongest...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 25, 2011
Feeling your way around the Tokyo National Museum
Next time you have a chance to visit the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) in Tokyo's Ueno district, before walking around that home to a vast and impressive collection of traditional Japanese paintings, sculptures and crafts, remember to make a quick stop in the room on the left of the foyer.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 23, 2011
Citizens' forum queries nuclear 'experts'
To whom does scientific debate belong?
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 21, 2011
Try out some laughter yoga with the sun at your back
An ocean breeze, live music, organic food, ayurvedic massage and yoga with a glorious sunset at your back. You'll have the opportunity to experience all this in Enoshima, Kanagawa Prefecture, this weekend.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2011
Unseen fight to save Tokyo from floods
At 2 a.m. on Sept. 21, Typhoon Roke, the 15th and biggest tropical storm yet to assault Japan this year, was over the Pacific 200 km south of Shikoku making its way slowly and ominously westward toward the main island of Honshu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 20, 2011
Hold the cesium: Ways to reduce radiation in your diet
Is our food really safe?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Sep 18, 2011
Web-slinging professor seeks spider silk secret
Shigeyoshi Osaki can read the minds of spiders. Or so you would think, if you see the way he handles the eight-legged arthropods.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 2, 2011
Things get a little fishy in Meguro
Expect long lines and the smoky aroma of grilled fish to fill Tokyo's Meguro district as the Meguro Sanma (Pacific saury) Festival comes back to the streets on Sept. 4.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 25, 2011
Facing death with the spice of life
Motoi Yamamoto was a third-year student at the Kanazawa College of Art in 1996 when his younger sister died at the age of 24 — two years after being diagnosed with brain cancer. To ease his grief, and to make sense of various personal issues he faced on the periphery of his sister's death — such...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Aug 21, 2011
Social recluse transforms himself into 'English Monster'
In Japan, studying English is, and has long been, a perpetual mission for many people, and there is no shortage of books, DVDs and schools touting newer, better, quicker and easier ways to master the global language.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 4, 2011
Rising noh star on mission to broaden audience
Noh, the 600-year-old performing art featuring drummers, chorus singers and masked actors, has survived in the modern world to this day thanks to its loyal, though aging, fan base. But as with many other traditional art forms, it is in dire need of new talent.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 17, 2011
The world according to AuthaGraph
In today's wired world, it's easy to learn about issues anywhere that might affect us or be of interest. So news of a disaster, for example, can be instantly transmitted, shared and discussed by people wherever they might be.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 10, 2011
Company team helps fill Tohoku gap
At 10:50 p.m. last Monday night, a bus carrying 42 people, mostly employees of the Shangri-La Hotel Tokyo, left the underground car park of the luxury hotel adjacent to JR Tokyo Station.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 1, 2011
Nigerian folk tale to transport theater-goers to the end of the world
Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi is a company aimed at appealing to all audiences, regardless of nationality, age, language and disability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 26, 2011
Irradiated food poses moral dilemmas
Mail-order food-delivery companies and cooperatives have long been among the leading campaigners for — and custodians of — food safety in Japan.
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

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER