Deep Dive, a podcast that goes below the surface of Japan

DEEP DIVE

The podcast will return in July. Host Oscar Boyd is heading to language school for three months and so Deep Dive will be on hiatus. Make sure you subscribe on whichever ...

The Olympic rings are reinstalled at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on Dec. 1, 2020.

DEEP DIVE Apr 2, 2021

Episode 89: Why are the Tokyo Olympics still going ahead in a pandemic?

by Oscar Boyd and Motoko Rich

Joining Deep Dive is the New York Times Tokyo bureau chief Motoko Rich, here to discuss why the government seems so intent on holding the Games this summer, and the ...

Detainees are seen through a hatch at the Tokyo Detention House in December 2015.

DEEP DIVE Mar 31, 2021

Episode 88: Japan's plan to clamp down on asylum seekers

by Oscar Boyd and Jesse Chase-Lubitz

A bill is working its way through the Diet that will make it even harder for asylum seekers to attain refugee status in Japan. Japan is a country that is good ...

A medical worker gets a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a Tokyo hospital on March 10.

DEEP DIVE Mar 24, 2021

Episode 87: Half a million and counting — Japan's rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine

Around 500,000 people have been vaccinated in Japan to date, one of the slowest vaccination programs across developed nations. Bloomberg reporter Lisa Du joins Deep Dive to discuss how Japan's vaccine ...

DEEP DIVE Mar 17, 2021

Episode 86: Twenty-five years of Pokemon

by Oscar Boyd

STAFF WRITER

Journalist Tom Bateman takes us through the 25 year history of Pokemon, and how it has become one of Japan’s most successful and recognizable exports.

A man surveys the damage in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, a few days after the city was struck by a deadly tsunami in March 2011.

DEEP DIVE Mar 10, 2021

Episode 85: Ishinomaki — A tsunami-ravaged city, 10 years on

by Oscar Boyd, Alex K.T. Martin and Mari Saito

STAFF WRITERS

Alex Martin and Mari Saito bring us two stories from Tohoku, a decade after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

A mural at the Okawa Elementary School, where 74 children died on March 11, 2011.

DEEP DIVE Mar 3, 2021

Episode 84: Ghosts of the Tsunami — The tragedy at Okawa Elementary School

by Oscar Boyd

Staff Writer

"Ghosts of the Tsunami" is a must read for anyone interested in learning about the disaster: a beautifully written, harrowing account of what happened on 3/11 and the events that ...

DEEP DIVE Feb 24, 2021

Episode 83: What is Clubhouse and why is it so popular in Japan?

by Oscar Boyd, Austin Freeman and Yuzuha Oka

STAFF WRITERS

Less than a year old, earlier this month Clubhouse became the most popular app on the Japan App Store. On this week's episode we look at why Clubhouse, an invite-only social ...

A protester takes part in a rally against Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori outside the Olympic museum in Tokyo on Thursday.

DEEP DIVE Feb 17, 2021

Episode 82: The sexism scandal engulfing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

by Oscar Boyd and Motoko Rich

STAFF WRITERS

New York Times bureau chief Motoko Rich breaks down Tokyo Olympic President Yoshiro Mori's sexist comments and what his resignation says about the status of women in Japanese society.

Made in Japan: Tokyo Cacao's farm is on Hahajima island.

DEEP DIVE Feb 10, 2021

Episode 81: Chocolate in Japan — from Paris to the Ogasawara Islands

by Oscar Boyd and Jeana Cadby

STAFF WRITERS

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Jeana Cadby, Ph.D. in specialty cacao and craft chocolate, takes us on a tour through the history and growth of chocolate in Japan.