author

 
Menu
Search
 
June 30, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Alex K.T. Martin

Meta

Alex K.T. Martin
Alex K.T. Martin is a Tokyo-based journalist and senior writer at The Japan Times, primarily focusing on feature stories. Previously he was a Tokyo correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 29, 2026
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
Faced with the same demographic pressures confronting other towns, Yokoze is experimenting with a different approach.
In Tokyo and other major Japanese cities, <i>aruki-sumaho</i> — walking while using a smartphone — has become a persistent safety concern as commuters navigate crowded stations and sidewalks while focused on their devices.
JAPAN / Society / First person
Jun 21, 2026
Distracted walkers in Japan are a real safety risk. My mother knows firsthand.
Despite years of awareness campaigns, aruki-sumaho — walking while using a smartphone — remains widespread and difficult to stop.
When bells aren’t enough to prevent encounters with bears, outdoorspeople in Japan now have a wide range of deterrents to choose from.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 6, 2026
In Japan, a bull market for bear deterrents
With no end in sight to the rise in bear encounters, manufacturers are bringing new kinds of deterrents to the market.
Hebikubo Ginza street — now Sangen-dori street — is pictured in the 1930s, when Tokyo was rapidly urbanizing alongside the expansion of rail infrastructure.
JAPAN / History / Greater Shinagawa Area
Jun 2, 2026
The many lives of Shinagawa
A journey through the ancient settlements, ports, railways and redevelopments that shaped Tokyo’s southern gateway.
Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
May 25, 2026
He told his wife he was ‘coming home.’ Then he disappeared.
One family’s search reveals Japan’s growing crisis of dementia-related disappearances.
Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Apr 13, 2026
Can AI replace a priest? Japan’s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
Japan’s temples experiment with artificial intelligence as questions of faith, presence and care grow more urgent.
Nearly half of Japan’s population suffers from hay fever, fueled by pollen from vast cedar and cypress plantations.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
Mar 23, 2026
The human-made roots of Japan’s hay fever crisis
Efforts to thin forests and breed low-pollen cedar advance, even as labor gaps and neglected land complicate the work.
Haruna Kambayashi stands by her newly purchased home on a street now lined with mostly empty lots.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 9, 2026
15 years after the Tohoku quake, the road home remains uncertain for many
In once-abandoned communities, life is cautiously returning as policymakers confront the staggering price of future recoveries.
The Kongo family’s residence and workshop in the Taisho Era, photographed about a century ago.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Feb 9, 2026
What keeps Japan’s 1,000-year-old companies alive?
Across religion, hospitality and the arts, the country’s oldest institutions show how craft and continuity can endure.
The reflection of one of Ueno Zoo’s twin pandas is seen at their enclosure. The animals’ popularity has prompted concern among local businesses that their departure could hurt foot traffic in surrounding neighborhoods.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 23, 2026
What happens when the pandas leave Ueno?
The return of Ueno Zoo’s last giant pandas underscores how an animal became a diplomatic symbol — and what happens when that symbol is withdrawn.
Posts and videos shared on social media have amplified fears about crime in Japan, with unverified claims spreading faster than official crime statistics.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 12, 2026
Japan is safe. Why do the Japanese feel unsafe?
Crime is low but anxiety is rising, fueled by demographics, social media and perception gaps shaping how safety is felt.
As Japan’s population ages, fewer workers will be supporting more dependents, reshaping the country’s social and economic balance.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 29, 2025
On to 2050: Life in a shrinking Japan
By 2050, Japan’s youth will inherit a transformed country, reshaped by population decline, longer lives and unprecedented demographic imbalance.
Brown rats, also known as sewer rats, often burrow into damaged pipes and survive on garbage and food scraps. While there aren’t any official numbers, at least hundreds of thousands of them are thought to be living in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 8, 2025
In the company of rats: Tokyo’s growing rodent problem
As Tokyo confronts stubborn rat populations, researchers argue the path forward lies in understanding their behavior — not just stamping them out.
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Nov 3, 2025
The second life of Japan’s net cafes
Once symbols of urban solitude, these spaces are finding new purpose as coworking hubs for a changing, wired generation.
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Oct 27, 2025
Inside Tokyo’s ‘phantom’ stations — and the stories they tell
A sealed 1930s subway platform beneath Shimbashi Station still holds traces of what the capital looked like before the war.
Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 29, 2025
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
Soaring property costs, foreign investment and scarce supply are reshaping who can afford to live in central Tokyo.
Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Sep 15, 2025
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
Young Japanese are saying no to booze — and yes to mocktails, gaming and sober nights out. Breweries are pivoting to meet them.
Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 22, 2025
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
One man’s experience traces the capital’s arc from wartime devastation to modern megacity in a story of resilience and reinvention.
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Tsunami waves measuring up to 1.3 meters were observed off the Pacific coast of Japan, with authorities urging people in coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground.
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2025
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
AI chatbots are becoming stand-ins for pets and partners — offering comfort, connection and raising new concerns.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay&#039;s Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team&#039;s loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia&#039;s Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER