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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
Jun 26, 2011
Experts urge great caution over radiation risks
In order to address public concerns over post 3/11 food safety, the government should be more forthcoming in the monitoring and disclosure of data regarding radiation contamination of soil, Akira Sugenoya, mayor of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, told this reporter recently.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 24, 2011
Noh theaters to present English performance
'Pagoda," a unique English-language noh play that premiered to packed houses in Europe in 2009 is touring Tokyo and Kyoto on June 28 and 30, respectively.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2011
Coping with diseases can go beyond medication
If you are diagnosed with a chronic disease, the shocking news can often lead to confusion and depression. Just the thought of the illness indefinitely affecting various aspects of your life can be overwhelming. And yet at the same time, you'll find there is so much you need to do: learn about the illness,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 15, 2011
Reopened Miraikan back to the future
Miraikan is back — and in the context of post-March 11 Japan, public expectations for the museum, whose mission is to bring cutting-edge science and technology closer to the public, are greater than ever.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 10, 2011
Osaka park celebrates firefly season
The Expo Park in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, is hosting a firefly-viewing festival through June 12.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 9, 2011
World's third-largest art fair ups profile of Asian works
For Japanese artists in need of international exposure, Hong Kong, it seems, is their closest window to the world. Last month, the city's international art fair, ART HK 2011, now in its fourth year, attracted art-lovers from all over the world, including many from mainland China, where the booming economy...
JAPAN / WEEK 3
May 15, 2011
Author's fiction turns horribly real
The Pacific Ocean a few kilometers off the coast of a city in the Tokai region of central Honshu turns white. Hundreds of curious holidaymakers caught in a traffic jam on the seaside road get out of their cars and jump up onto the sea wall for a better view of the strange sight — only to realize that...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 1, 2011
Atsuko Muraki: Fighter for justice
Atsuko Muraki was thrown into the public spotlight in 2009, when she was head of the Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2011
Mikura: Tokyo's island of natural wonders
Last week, while much of the metropolis continued to reel from aftershocks following the March 11 megaquake, and worries about radiation leaks from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactors lurked in most people's minds, there was a part of Tokyo blissfully removed from all that madness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2011
A place of refuge for exiles and foreign wayfarers
The 21-sq.-km island of Mikura has a distinctive history remembered and shared well by villagers.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Apr 22, 2011
NHK hopes for a home run with new anime
It's a quintessential scene of Japanese youth: Young boys out in baseball uniforms jog across their school grounds, the white and maroon of their gear contrasting with a clear blue sky. In the bleachers, an earnest-looking high school girl named Minami, in a jersey that matches the team's uniforms, eyes...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Apr 17, 2011
All fired up by Japanese wheels
Cycling has enjoyed a renewed boom in popularity in recent years as an eco-friendly means of transportation and for its health benefits. Reflecting this trend, more and more helmet-donning businesspeople are seen cycling to work on their glimmering sports bikes these days, often gliding past cars on...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 10, 2011
Awaji Island quake museum offers shocks and survivors
At age 79, Yoshiko Negita's mind is alert and her memory is laser-sharp. There is, too, a sense of urgency in her voice as this resident of Awaji Island in the Seto Inland Sea speaks to visitors at its Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park. There, preserved at an experiential museum, is an exposed section...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 1, 2011
Kageyama to drum up aid
Award-winning taiko drummer Isaku Kageyama — known for his fusion of Japanese traditional music with jazz, rock and club music — will hold a charity performance in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on April 8. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Japan Red Cross Society to help victims of the March...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 25, 2011
Comic's tweets tackle specter of fear
These are hard times for entertainers in Japan. In the face of the March 11 Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake and tsunami, which has killed more than 9,000 and left many more missing, and with radiation still leaking from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, hard news coverage has taken center stage,...
JAPAN / Media
Mar 23, 2011
Scatalogical 'Reactor Boy' web-cartoon eases fears of radiation
On March 15, four days after the Tohoku-Kanto earthquake and amid the heightened radiation fears following explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo-based media artist Kazuhiko Hachiya started posting a series of short messages on Twitter.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 16, 2011
Take proper steps to avoid exposure to fallout
More residents near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture were ordered to evacuate Tuesday, raising concerns about radiation exposure.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2011
Clinics do their best to deal with outages
Hospitals and clinics scurried Monday to cope with the start of rolling blackouts in the Kanto region.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Feb 27, 2011
The actor, the Prince and the fan mail
British actor Ben Barnes shot to fame in 2008 with his portrayal of the then-Prince Caspian in "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second installment of the film adaption of author C.S. Lewis' classic seven-book series, "The Chronicles of Narnia."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 25, 2011
Theme park shows kids career fun
Come April, all public elementary schools in Japan will start teaching English to students in Grades 5 and 6. Kidzania, a popular indoor amusement park that aims to simulate different types of jobs, is giving kids a head start in English education.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
‘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.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
The Nobel Prize and a testy phone call: How the Trump-Modi relationship unraveled
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet one another at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington in February.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.

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

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