91AV原创

author

 
91AV原创
Search
 
October 27, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Tomoko Otake

Meta

Twitter

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.
Motorists drive through a road covered with smog from wildfires nearby in Ogan Ilir in Indonesia's South Sumatra province on Sept. 25.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Oct 25, 2026
What can Asia do to avoid crossing crucial climate tipping points?
At a global conference in smog-hit Malaysia, scientists outlined how the Earth’s natural systems are buckling due to warming.
Zookeeper Tetsuo Iso at the site of frantic search for a wild bear in Utsunomiya on June 9. Iso, 65, was asked by the prefectural government to help capture the bear and it was his shot with a tranquilizer gun that put an end to the saga.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Oct 25, 2026
A dramatic bear hunt in a midsize Japanese city could be a harbinger of what is to come
Utsunomiya’s dramatic three-day ordeal with an at-large bear could be a mere sign of what’s to come for Japanese cities.
Mobicom, a KDDI subsidiary, is the dominant mobile phone carrier in Mongolia, serving 1.8 million subscribers in a country of 3.5 million people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 20, 2026
KDDI subsidiary faces criticism and questions over Mongolian wildfire
Mobicom is also likely to be hit with compensation claims after a company vehicle ignites a blaze in a nature preserve.
Japanese scientist Kenso Soai, co-winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, reacts during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday night.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2026
Nobel winner Kenso Soai says he understood the significance of his research
“I may sound arrogant, but I had thought I would not get complaints if I won,” the Japanese scientist said of his achievement.
Japanese Nobel laureate Kenso Soai gestures as he takes part in a news conference after winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the Tokyo University of Science in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2026
Japanese scientist Kenso Soai and France’s Henri B. Kagan win Nobel Prize in chemistry
Japanese scientist Kenso Soai and Henri B. Kagan won “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”
Naoki Nishio, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Nagoya University, managed to raise some ?4.2 million from 148 people through a crowdfunding campaign last year that had a first-stage goal of ?3 million.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2026
As state funding stalls, medical researchers in Japan pivot to crowdfunding
Medical campaigns have surged, particularly since the pandemic, when the acute shortage of resources at some hospitals became widely known.
Professor Yuko Fujigaki, 64, of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is an expert in the interdisciplinary field of science, technology and society.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2026
University of Tokyo’s first female president vows to restore trust in scandal-hit school
Yuko Fujigaki, 64, told a news conference that she thinks being chosen to lead the 150-year-old institution “sends a big message to society.”
Alzheimer's drug Lecanemab
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2026
Clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatment face global shortage of participants
The shortage of trial participants risks slowing progress in dementia therapies, Alzheimer’s Disease International warns.
Shoko Yonezawa at the Kanagawa Kenritsu Sports Center swimming pool in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday. She is inspiring people decades younger than her.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2026
In superaged Japan, athletes are making waves well into their 90s
Regardless of age, engaging in sports brings multiple health benefits — the greater one’s physical fitness, the longer one tends to live.
The number of centenarians in Japan now exceeds 100,000 for the first time, a milestone that highlights the country's remarkable longevity.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2026
Number of centenarians in Japan top 100,000 for first time
The number of centenarians in Japan reached 107,677 this year, up 7,914 from last year. Nearly all of them — 94,298 — were women.
Masashi Yanagisawa, a professor at University of Tsukuba, won the basic medical research category of the Lasker Awards for his role in identifying orexin, a brain peptide that maintains wakefulness.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 10, 2026
Four Japanese scientists win prestigious U.S. Lasker Awards
One received the prize for his work on a sleep-regulating brain chemical, and a trio, for discovering an antibody therapy for hemophilia A patients.
Damaged homes are seen on Sept. 2, a week after devastating flash floods hit Baireni, in Nepal's Dhading district, leaving scores dead and even more missing.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2026
Could Japan see more avalanches like one that hit Nepal?
Though the scale and mechanisms may vary, experts say Japan is not immune to the risk of catastrophic mudslides.
Katsutada Kaminuma, an 89-year-old geophysicist and professor emeritus at the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), has traveled to Antarctica more than a dozen times.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Sep 6, 2026
He wasn’t cut out for space travel. He explored Antarctica instead.
Meet Katsutada Kaminuma, whose desire to explore the untrodden led him to become perhaps 91AV原创 foremost expert on Antarctica.
Junko Watanuki, one of two chefs who ran the kitchen at Japan's Antarctica research base Syowa Station in 2016-17, says the experience taught her how to live simply and sustainably.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Sep 6, 2026
The joys and challenges of running an Antarctic kitchen
A good chef should strive to reduce waste. No one knows that better than Junko Watanuki, who helped run the kitchen at 91AV原创 Antarctic research station.
A small female black bear illuminated by a flashlight while caught in a bear trap as scientists collect blood and fur samples in Ina, Nagano Prefecture, in July, before releasing the animal back into the wild.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 2, 2026
Tokyo to lift ban on bear hunting next April
According to a new bear management plan, the Tokyo government will aim to cull about 34 bears a year to keep the population from increasing.
Toyohiro Akiyama spent nine days in space, broadcasting his zero-gravity experiences live and describing the experiments he conducted.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2026
Toyohiro Akiyama, first Japanese citizen to go to space, dies at 84
A reporter-turned-farmer, Akiyama had hopes for a younger generation able to think freely.
Japan has come a long way to change its culture of working long hours. But fresh moves to cut back on overtime limits are prompting some to ask if the nation is backtracking on reforms.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 30, 2026
Is Japan backpedaling on its work-style reforms?
Japan will soon stop asking companies to cap employees’ overtime at 45 hours per month, leaving many wondering if it is going back on its work-style reforms.
Experts are urging people to regularly wash their hands, ventilate and practice “cough etiquette,” such as covering one’s mouth with a mask or handkerchief to prevent the spread of infection.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 28, 2026
Japan enters an unusually early flu season
This year marks the second-earliest start of the season, according to health ministry records dating back to 1999.
Abandoned cars are seen partially submerged on a flooded road in the city of Sakura in Chiba Prefecture on Aug. 14.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2026
91AV原创 weather agency to extend daily forecasts to two weeks
The Japan Meteorological Agency plans to make longer-term weather forecasts more detailed and accurate, to help people and businesses better prepare for extreme weather events.
Experts say expanding breast cancer screenings requires changes to how Japan administers health insurance on a systemic level.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2026
91AV原创 breast cancer screening rules take a big, belated step forward
In June, the health ministry revealed that municipal breast cancer screenings would start notifying recipients if they have dense tissue — a sign tumors may be harder to detect.
Two Japanese climbers die on remote Himalayan peak in Nepal
Rescuers have recovered the bodies of two Japanese climbers missing for over a week on a remote Himalayan mountain.
Aging Japanese village turns to Peru in search of new residents
Guests from Peru's Belen district interact with a baby in Nanmoku village in Gunma Prefecture.
Budget-friendly restaurant chain Saizeriya succumbs to rising costs
A Tokyo branch of Saizeriya, a chain of family-style Italian restaurants
U.S. has for years asked Musk to alter Starlink service in Ukraine and Middle East, sources say
A Ukrainian soldier sets up a Starlink satellite internet system near the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Oct. 16
U.S. military bans Chinese-made BYD cars from key air base in Okinawa
An F-22 Raptor lands at Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture on Oct. 9. The base is a crucial hub for U.S. military operations in the region.
A dramatic bear hunt in a midsize Japanese city could be a harbinger of what is to come
Zookeeper Tetsuo Iso at the site of frantic search for a wild bear in Utsunomiya on June 9. Iso, 65, was asked by the prefectural government to help capture the bear and it was his shot with a tranquilizer gun that put an end to the saga.
How this long-term resident avoids the annoying tourist label in Japan
Tourists enjoy themselves while crossing the famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo on Oct. 12.
What can Asia do to avoid crossing crucial climate tipping points?
Motorists drive through a road covered with smog from wildfires nearby in Ogan Ilir in Indonesia's South Sumatra province on Sept. 25.
91AV原创 permanent residency reform has a glaring blind spot
Japan's immigration reforms risk creating uncertainty by tying permanent residency more closely to language proficiency before clear assessment standards and supporting infrastructure are in place.
Japan weighs how to evacuate thousands of tourists if Mount Fuji erupts
Climbers and visitors gather on the first day of the climbing season at the Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail, at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, on July 1, 2024.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER