Tomoko Otake is a staff writer and editor with a strong interest in health, medical and social issues. She is an author of A Matter of Health, a new weekly series on the latest health research, technology and policy issues in Japan. A native of Nara Prefecture, she obtained an M.A. in journalism from The University of Montana.
For Tomoko Otake's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Saitama Prefecture has always been overshadowed by Tokyo, its bigger and glitzier neighbor to the south that is also the capital of Japan. But Saitama, sometimes referred to by its unflattering nickname Dasai-tama (dasai means uncool), is in fact home to a number of ...
The news business in Japan has long been notoriously labor-intensive. Reporters assigned to the crime and disaster beats have largely relied on briefings from police officers or firefighters for their initial reports. But to get a scoop or avoid falling behind their competitors, they have ...
Osaka-based drugmaker Shionogi & Co. has announced that the health ministry gave it approval to manufacture and market its new flu drug Xofluza, which requires only a single dose regardless of age. The drug, which has been approved in tablet form for use against the ...
Question: "Someone I've met on the internet asked me to send them a picture of myself. What should I do?" Answer A: "It might be OK to send it if it's a shot of you with a friend." Answer B: "Forget about it." The correct answer is ...
The new medical prices are out. Last week, after more than a year of intense deliberations among various stakeholders, a panel under the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry released a long list of changes to the nation's medical fees. The fee review, which takes place every ...
In September 2016, freelance journalist Yutaka Hasegawa touched off a firestorm of criticism after writing in his blog that diabetes patients receiving dialysis should pay for the treatment themselves instead of using public health insurance. He argued that it was their "corrupt" lifestyles that ...
Syphilis, a classic sexually transmitted disease nearly eradicated decades ago, is seeing a resurgence in Japan, with the reported number of patients in 2017 topping 5,000 for the first time in 44 years. According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the number of people ...
There's no denying that, as you grow older, you are likely to visit doctors more often and have more medicine prescribed. According to 2014 data from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the amount of prescription drugs patients are given goes up as they ...
The health ministry often relies on the nation's "soft power" to spread its public health messages. This time, it is using one of the hottest anime series — "Attack on Titan" — to promote proper coughing etiquette as the influenza season gets into full ...
A team of Japanese researchers has built two humanoid robots that can do pushups, situps and stretches just like their human creators. One can even sweat, releasing heat generated by the physical activity. In the latest issue of the U.S. journal Science Robotics released this ...
