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

Hisae Kawamura sings an Ainu folktale at the Kaneto Kawamura Ainu Museum in Asahikawa, Hokkaido.

DEEP DIVE Nov 11, 2020

Episode 72: Preserving the endangered Ainu language

by Oscar Boyd and Mara Budgen

STAFF WRITERS

The Ainu language has been declared critically endangered by UNESCO, with few people left alive today who speak it. The Ainu are Japan's indigenous population and Japan Times contributor Mara Budgen ...

Destress and detox: According to Kota Shimomura, it’s more than just CBD intrigue that has drawn in droves of customers: It’s his shop’s consultations, which allow Tokyoites to release their stress.

DEEP DIVE Nov 5, 2020

Episode 71: CBD — Japan's path to medical marijuana?

by Oscar Boyd and Dan Buyanovsky

STAFF WRITERS

Japan Times contributor Dan Buyanovsky explores Japan's growing CBD industry and whether it offers a path to the legalization of medical marijuana.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi's "Haunted Old Palace at Soma" (ca. 1845-46), in which a sorceress draws forth a giant skeleton to attack a warrior.

DEEP DIVE Oct 28, 2020

Episode 70: Japan's got ghosts

by Oscar Boyd

staff writer

Author, Bram Stoker Award nominee and host of the podcast “Uncanny Japan,” Thersa Matsuura joins us to share her fascination with the Japanese supernatural.

DEEP DIVE Oct 21, 2020

Episode 69: Why we should be celebrating Japan's tattoo culture

by Oscar Boyd and Alice Gordenker

STAFF WRITERS

Japan has an uncomfortable relationship with tattoos, which are associated with the yakuza and the criminal underworld.

Naomi Osaka adjusts her mask after defeating Jennifer Brady in their U.S. Open semifinal on Thursday in New York.

DEEP DIVE Oct 14, 2020

Episode 68: Naomi Osaka — seven matches, seven masks, seven names

by Oscar Boyd and Joel Tansey

STAFF WRITERS

News editor Joel Tansey discusses the impact of Naomi Osaka’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement both in the U.S. and Japan, and what a new wave of activism ...

Sayaka Murata's "Convenience Store Women"

DEEP DIVE Oct 8, 2020

Episode 67: 'Convenience Store Woman' and the art of translation

by Oscar Boyd

STAFF WRITER

Ginny Tapley Takemori discusses the process of translating Japanese literature into English — a somewhat forgotten art.

Fun with fungi: Jeremy Umansky and Rich Shih explored the many uses of kōji independently for years before collaborating on “Koji Alchemy,” the first English-language publication devoted to the mold.

DEEP DIVE Sep 30, 2020

Episode 66: Kōji — the magical mold of Japan

by Oscar Boyd and Claire Williamson

STAFF WRITERS

Japan Times food editor Claire Williamson joins Deep Dive to discuss her new found passion for Aspergillus oryzae, the mold better known in Japan as kōji.

DEEP DIVE Sep 23, 2020

[Bonus episode] The making of the Walkman

by Oscar Boyd and Matt Alt

STAFF WRITERS

This episode is based around an extract from the audiobook of "Pure Invention." We join in the middle of chapter 5, which is all about the invention of the Walkman.

A firefighter battles the Creek Fire as it threatens homes in the Cascadel Woods neighborhood of Madera County, California, on Monday.

DEEP DIVE Sep 16, 2020

Episode 65: Where is Japan's green recovery?

by Oscar Boyd and Ryusei Takahashi

STAFF WRITERS

Staff reporter Ryusei Takahashi joins Oscar Boyd to discuss the idea, opportunities and difficulties of a green recovery in Japan.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on June 18.

DEEP DIVE Sep 9, 2020

Episode 64: The end of Shinzo Abe: What will his legacy be?

by Oscar Boyd and Tobias Harris

In part two of this two part look at the end of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s time in office, we look at Abe's legacy as Japan's longest-serving prime minister.