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 Joel Tansey

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Joel Tansey
Joel joined The Japan Times in 2017 after four years as a reporter with Black Press Media in western Canada. He's currently a senior news editor and in 2022 he helped launch a new section of the paper focusing on climate change, earth science and other environmental issues.
For Joel Tansey's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu during a practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Komatsu is the first Japanese to hold the top position at a non-Japanese F1 team.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 7, 2024
Tokyo native Ayao Komatsu brings ‘calm’ and ‘focus’ to improving Haas F1 team
The impact is apparent three months into leadership change that made Komatsu team principal.
Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda competes in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday as the race's spring debut saw cherry blossoms greet the 20 drivers on the Formula One grid.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 7, 2024
Tsunoda becomes first Japanese F1 driver to score a point at home since 2012
Tsunoda’s deep knowledge of the track paid off and Max Verstappen's Honda-powered Red Bull took the win.
Yuki Tsunoda will be looking to earn points at his home race for the first time when he starts 10th for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 6, 2024
Tsunoda qualifies 10th as he eyes points at Japanese Grand Prix
A loud cheer from the 77,000 fans at Suzuka Circuit could be heard over the roar of Tsunoda’s Honda engine after he secured his top 10 position.
Ayumu Iwasa says his target is to be in F1 as a regular driver and become world champion.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 5, 2024
RB’s Iwasa eager for more after first taste of an F1 weekend at Suzuka
The Osaka Prefecture native logged a fastest lap of 1:32.103 for RB, putting him 16th among the 20 drivers in the session
Yuki Tsunoda attends a promotional event ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 5, 2024
Japan favorite Tsunoda looks to shift career into higher gear at Suzuka
Without a race seat yet for 2025, the driver's future is up in the air.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen in action during the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, on Sept. 24.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 4, 2024
Cherry blossoms greet F1 on eve of spring debut at Suzuka
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be looking to reestablish a pecking order that has him firmly on top.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr., RB's Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Williams' Alexander Albon, Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly during a news conference in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 4, 2024
Five drivers to watch this weekend at Suzuka
The battles that take place further down the grid promise plenty of excitement this weekend.
Nissan's Oliver Rowland races in the first Tokyo E-Prix on Saturday. The Japanese team delighted the home fans with Rowland's second-place finish as Formula E made its debut in the motorsport-loving country.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 31, 2024
First Tokyo E-Prix wins over Japan's passionate motorsports fans
Spectators hailed the long-awaited arrival of the racing series, which offered a different kind of spectacle compared to F1 and domestic series.
Drivers speed toward the first corner at the start of the first Tokyo E-Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 30, 2024
Nissan’s Rowland narrowly misses dream win in Formula E’s electric Tokyo debut
Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther spoiled the party for Nissan's legions of fans as the electric racing series made its long-awaited Japan debut.
Formula E drivers prepare for the Tokyo E-Prix during a practice session on Friday in the capital's Odaiba district.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 29, 2024
Formula E set to electrify Tokyo
The series' arrival in Tokyo comes as Japanese manufacturers start to take a greater interest.
A Nissan car during the fourth race of the current Formula E season, in Sao Paulo on March 16
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 29, 2024
Nissan hopes to shock the home crowd at Tokyo E-Prix
After finishing seventh in the overall standings last year, the team sits sixth through four races.
As the youngest driver in Super Formula, Juju Noda's goal in 2024 will be to improve and learn with each race.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 8, 2024
Japanese racing prodigy Juju Noda takes big step up into Super Formula
The 18-year-old will be making the move from junior racing categories to the second-fastest racing series in the world.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda drives during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 3, 2024
Yuki Tsunoda's temper flares over team orders in closing laps of Bahrain GP
Tsunoda did not take kindly to being asked to let his teammate by and showed his frustration over the team radio and on the track.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is seen on the surface of the moon in an image released Jan. 25.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 2, 2024
Japan’s historic moon landing was right on target
Japan made history last month when it became the fifth nation to soft land on the moon.
A screen shows JAXA officials in the mission control room at the space agency's campus in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 20, 2024
Japan makes history as spacecraft lands on the moon
The successful landing makes Japan just the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, but questions remain over whether the mission can achieve all its goals.
Naomi Osaka attends a news conference in Melbourne on Friday ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
TENNIS
Jan 12, 2024
It's a changed landscape at the top as Osaka returns to the Australian Open
2023 was all about the continued rise of players like Gauff and Sabalenka and the dominance of Swiatek, and it remains to be seen where Osaka fits in that picture.
Ayao Komatsu speaks during an event ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture on Sept. 21.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 11, 2024
Tokyo native Komatsu takes over as Haas F1 boss after Steiner's departure
"In appointing Ayao Komatsu as Team Principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management," the team owner said.
A Japan Airlines plane burning at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024
Five dead after Japan Airlines jet collides with coast guard plane at Haneda Airport
All 379 people on board the JAL plane exited safely but five of the six people on the coast guard plane died, with the captain sustaining serious injuries.
In writing "Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions," journalist Akshat Rathi said his goal was to try and determine where climate solutions are being built and uncover the challenges that they face.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 24, 2023
Finding crucial solutions in a time of climate crisis
Journalist Akshat Rathi explores the economic side of the emergency in his book ‘Climate Capitalism.'
A man dressed as Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders jumps into the Dotonbori River in Osaka after the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 9, 2023
Japan’s 'four-eyed tax hiker' and the curse of Colonel Sanders
Baseball writer Jason Coskrey and editor Joel Tansey discuss the Hanshin Tigers’ Japan Series victory; Gabriele Ninivaggi explains how the prime minister hopes to get a home run with his tax plan.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on