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December 30, 2025
 

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Tomoko Otake

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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.
Houses burned down by the Palisades Fire in Malibu, California. The widespread wildfires represented the most costly climate-linked disaster of 2025, in financial terms.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 28, 2025
In 2025, climate policy was shoved aside even as extreme weather intensified
This year was not a good one for environmentalists or climate scientists as action against warming faced headwinds around the world.
Tetsuya Yamagami in Nara in July 2022. Earlier that month Yamagami had shot the former prime minister with an improvised shotgun at point-blank range.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2025
The making of Shinzo Abe’s assassin
Tetsuya Yamagami’s path to the assassination had many turning points, but his alarm over the Unification Church's ties with the prime minister, and financial woes, drove him on.
The Nara District Court in November. Prosecutors in the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the fatal shooting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have focused on the cruel and premeditated nature of the killing.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Prosecutors demand life sentence for suspect in Shinzo Abe shooting
Tetsuya Yamagami, who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, is standing trial for murder and other charges at Nara District Court.
A hospital in Osaka Prefecture in 2021. The government plans to raise the copayments for all people undergoing expensive care to reflect the rising medical costs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 16, 2025
Health ministry panel agrees to raise medical fee caps, but with refined approach
Income threshold categories determining patient burdens for high-cost medical care will be fine-tuned to ensure that those who earn more pay more.
A worker clears debris from a shopping center in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, on Tuesday morning following Monday night's earthquake.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Dec 9, 2025
What were the long, slow shakes felt throughout eastern Japan on Monday?
Called “long-period ground motion,” this is a type of quake that has a far reach and can be felt strongly by people on the upper floors of tall buildings.
An official of the Japan Meteorological Agency holds a news conference in Tokyo early Tuesday in the wake of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake off Aomori Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Dec 9, 2025
What is the ‘subsequent quake advisory' the government issued?
The government is advising people to be on alert for about a week and to double-check their earthquake preparedness.
A court sketch shows Tetsuya Yamagami standing in trial in his first questioning session at the Nara District Court on Nov. 20.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2025
Abe shooter says ‘despair and sense of crisis’ triggered 2022 attack
Tetsuya Yamagami explained how he came to view the politician as a friend of the Unification Church and the urgency he felt to stop their interactions.
An illustration of Tetsuya Yamagami (left) being questioned by his lawyer on Thursday at the Nara District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2025
‘I should not have lived this long,’ man accused of killing Abe tells court
Describing his troubled upbringing and the misery caused by his mother’s devotion to the Unification Church, Tetsuya Yamagami expressed regret.
The mother of the man on trial for the 2022 killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Nara District Court that she feels responsible for her son’s actions.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2025
Even after Abe’s death, suspect’s mother stays faithful to Unification Church
The church’s influence on Tetsuya Yamagami's family has become a focal point of his trial, as a grudge he said he held against it had led him to target the prime minister.
A photo of Typhoon Hinnamnor, captured aboard the International Space Station as the typhoon approached islands in Okinawa Prefecture, on Aug. 31, 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2025
French study says climate change-driven storms endanger flight safety
Storms have become more intense, producing stronger winds and often resulting in greater in-flight turbulence, the study found.
Members of the media gather outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara on Tuesday hours before the start of the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2025
Abe shooting suspect Yamagami pleads guilty to murder
On the first day of his trial, Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitted to the 2022 killing of the former prime minister.
The Nara District Court has scheduled 19 days for the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami before it hands down a ruling on Jan. 21 next year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2025
Three years later, trial begins for man accused of ex-PM Abe’s assassination
The delay was due to pretrial proceedings and a lengthy psychiatric evaluation for Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, to determine his fitness to stand trial.
“Future Kid Takara,” a series of anime shorts to be aired on NHK Educational TV in November, attempts to educate children about climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Oct 26, 2025
Japan’s youth are apathetic toward the climate crisis. Could anime change that?
“Future Kid Takara,” a new series set to air on NHK Educational TV, aims to empower children and encourage them to take action against climate change.
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
The mega-event was a resounding success, taking in some 25 million visitors over 184 days. But how its legacy will look in the decades to come remains a question mark.
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 10, 2025
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
The prefectural and city governments of Osaka have announced they will retain just a 200-meter portion of the world's largest wooden structure.
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 9, 2025
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Waiting on a supercomputer to analyze the structure of a new crystal gave him time to come up with the idea for a kind of material that could, for example, capture carbon dioxide.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of the University of Osaka, arrives for a news conference Monday night after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2025
Nobel laureate Sakaguchi urges support for science despite its 'poor success rate'
The Nobel Prize winner engaged in research once considered dodgy or even dangerous, and he said he struggled to gain support for it early in his career.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
With medical breakthrough, Japan’s latest Nobel winner bucked convention
Shimon Sakaguchi’s unwavering conviction in the validity of his research paid off with the discovery of immune-regulating cells — and a Nobel Prize in medicine.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
Japanese immunologist Shimon Sakaguchi was awarded the prize along with two other scientists for their discovery concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
Visitors wait in line to enter the Tech World pavilion at the Osaka Expo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2025
Taiwan showcases chipmaking prowess as a private exhibitor at Osaka Expo
The expo’s guidebook makes only brief references to Taiwan's food and lifestyles, but the structure of its pavilion and exhibits are rich in symbolism.
China may have tested Japan and U.S. readiness in Pacific
At the time of the joint Chinese-Russian bomber exercise on Dec. 9, the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington was conducting drills with the Maritime Self-Defense Force in waters south of the Kanto region.
On to 2050: Life in a shrinking Japan
As Japan’s population ages, fewer workers will be supporting more dependents, reshaping the country’s social and economic balance.
Japan’s original decluttering queen cleans up your new year
A new book from Hideko Yamashita, the original creator of the 'danshari' method of decluttering popularize outside Japan by Marie Kondo, can help you start 2026 off on a tidier note.
Boy dies after becoming trapped in ski resort escalator in Hokkaido
A boy died at a ski resort in Otaru, Hokkaido, on Sunday after being trapped in a conveyor belt-type escalator connecting a parking lot with ski slopes.
China orders travel agencies to slash group tours to Japan as dispute festers
A Chinese tourist group stands near the Sensoji temple, a popular sightseeing spot in Tokyo's Asakusa area, on Nov. 18.
A year of plenty: Endless art shows, subtle curation of themes
The 2025 Aichi Triennale took place in several locations, including a former bathhouse where Rui Sasaki's “Unforgettable Residues” was exhibited.
In 2025, Asia got tough on nuisance streamers. Japan did not.
This year, Asian countries' relatively lenient approach to nuisance streamers has been replaced by legal charges and potential jail time.
Why stickers are the hottest commodity in Japan right now
Younger generations are beginning to reappreciate things that are simply kawaii and fun.
A night at the museum when dinosaurs come to life
The Tokyo National Museum and the Dino-A-Live show have partnered for a traditional storytelling performance with animatronic dinosaurs reimagined as folklore spirits back from the dead.
Tokyo dining in 2025 was defined by sushi and cutting-edge fare
Sushi, such as this Kyoto-style "saba bōzushi" (rolled sushi with vinegared mackerel) at Kibun, stood out in Tokyo's dining scene in 2025.

Podcast

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

Longform

As Japan’s population ages, fewer workers will be supporting more dependents, reshaping the country’s social and economic balance.
On to 2050: Life in a shrinking Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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