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Deep Dive from The Japan Times

Deep Dive from The Japan Times

The Japan Times

Looking beneath the surface of Japan. We talk to Japan Times journalists and guests about current events and trends in Japan.

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Top 10 Deep Dive from The Japan Times Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Deep Dive from The Japan Times episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Deep Dive from The Japan Times for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Deep Dive from The Japan Times episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

We went on a break and there was an assassination attempt, COVID-19 got a downgrade, and a pair of festivals shook up Kyoto. Several Japan Times writers join this week’s episode to help us play catch up with the headlines.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna, with research from Jason Jenkins and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Shaun McKenna: Twitter | Instagram
Gabriele Ninivaggi: Articles | Twitter
Tomoko Otake: Articles | Twitter
Thu-Huong Ha: Articles | Twitter
Lance Henderstein: Articles | Twitter
Read more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Photo: Yuriko Takagi’s “Threads of Beauty” was one of the highlights of this year’s Kyotographie. | LANCE HENDERSTEIN

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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 157: Yes, crime is on the rise in Japan. No, you don’t have to panic.
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05/17/23 • 23 min

Last year saw crime rates in Japan swing upward for the first time in 20 years. Writer Alex K.T. Martin joins us to discuss the new types of crime that are popping up, while news editor Tadasu Takahashi gives us a rundown on the language being used to describe it. Also, reporter Elizabeth Beattie catches up on what happened at the G7 finance meeting in Niigata last weekend.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Shaun McKenna: Articles | Twitter | Instagram
Alex K.T. Martin: Articles | Twitter
Tadasu Takahashi: Articles
Elizabeth Beattie: Articles | Twitter
Read more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Photo: A screen grab from a video taken by a witness shows masked robbers inside the watch shop in Tokyo's Ginza district on Monday evening. | KYODO

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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - [Rebroadcast] The sublime boredom of walking in Japan
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05/03/23 • 34 min

The team at Deep Dive is taking a needed break. In the meantime, we thought that we’d revisit this podcast from last year in which we speak with writer Craig Mod about the art of a good stroll.
“Walking is everything.” he says. And if you’ve got the time and the inclination to do it, it is the best way to come to know the country, from beautifully preserved shrines and forests to the messier parts of suburban reality — pachinko parlors and all.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Craig Mod: Articles | Website

Read more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Photo: The Kumano Kodo is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes that crisscross the Japan's Kii Peninsula. | GETTY IMAGES

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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 184: Japan rings in 2024 with an unwelcome disaster
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01/18/24 • 38 min

It was a rough start to 2024 for Japan, with a magnitude 7.6 earthquake and an airplane collision at Haneda airport in the first week of January. On our first episode of the year, we report on the impact of the Noto Peninsula earthquake and what can be learned from rural disasters.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Jordan Allen: Articles
Karin Kaneko: Articles | X
Alex K.T. Martin: Articles | X
Read more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on X!
Photo: Cars drive past a damaged road, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture. | KIM KYUNG-HOON, REUTERS

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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 128: When will Japan open to tourists? w/ Kanako Takahara
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05/12/22 • 23 min

Over the past few months, Japan has been slowly easing its COVID-19 related border restrictions. In March, after almost two years, it started allowing in students, academics and business people. Then in April, parents and immediate relatives of foreign residents were allowed to enter the country.
But the borders are still closed to tourists, a broad category of people that includes everyone from leisure travelers to the unmarried partners of residents of Japan. This week on Deep Dive, Kanako Takahara joins to discuss when Japan might reopen to international tourism, and what form that reopening might take.
Read more:
On this episode:
Kanako Takahara: Articles | Twitter
Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram
Transcript
We have recently begun experimenting with transcripts for episodes of Deep Dive. A full transcript of this episode is available on The Japan Times website. Find transcripts useful? Tips for improvement? Contact us to let us know.
Announcements:
Get in touch with Oscar and the show at [email protected]. Support the show. Rate, review and share this episode with a friend if you've enjoyed it. Follow us on Twitter, and give us feedback.
This episode of Deep Dive may be supported by advertising based on your location. Advertising is sourced by Audioboom and is not affiliated with The Japan Times.
Photo: Mount Fuji, one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions, in fall. | Getty Images
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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 140: 25 years on from the protocol’s signing, did we ever 'Kyoto'?
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12/14/22 • 20 min

Dec. 11 marked the 25th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark treaty that put the idea of global effort to save the planet on many national radars. To mark the event, The Japan Times has launched a new section, Our Planet, that will look at the climate crisis, Earth science and disaster management from a Japanese perspective. Two of the section’s editors, Joel Tansey and Chris Russell, join me on the show to discuss how the Kyoto Protocol is viewed now and how the city it’s named for has taken to its green mantle.
If you have pitches for Our Planet, feel free to email us at [email protected].
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Chris Russell: Articles | Twitter
Joel Tansey: Articles | Twitter
Read more/Watch more:
From Kyoto Protocol to ‘fossil’ awards: Japan’s climate image stained by inaction (Joel Tansey, Dan Traylor and Tomoko Otake, The Japan Times)
25 years after Kyoto Protocol, U.N. climate process stumbles on (Chris Russell, The Japan Times)
Do You Kyoto?” (City of Kyoto, YouTube)
Should I stay or should I go, now? (Linda Gould, The Japan Times)
Get in touch:
Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, head to japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Photo:
Fridays for Future leader Takuro Kajiwara heads a march through Tokyo's Omotesando neighborhood. | OSCAR BOYD
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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 187: Hunting in Hokkaido; Taylor Swift comes to Tokyo
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02/15/24 • 35 min

You probably don’t think of guns when you think of Japan, but Hokkaido’s hunters do. Hokkaido-based writer Justin Randall says newly proposed gun laws may make their lives more dangerous. Later, Shaun McKenna and Alyssa I. Smith discuss something less dangerous: Taylor Swift’s sold-out Tokyo shows.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Justin Randall: Articles | Linktree
Alyssa I. Smith: Articles
Read more/Listen more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on X!
Photo: Naoko Motooka began hunting 10 years ago. Her hobby is one way Hokkaido hopes to curb a current boom in the deer population. | JUSTIN RANDALL
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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 127: Japan is losing people, but is it all bad? w/ Alex Martin
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04/27/22 • 26 min

Since 2008, Japan’s population has been falling, and each year the amount it falls by grows larger and larger. In 2008, the country lost around 20,000 people. In 2010, 100,000, and by 2019, the figure stood at over half a million. The most recent data, released earlier this month, shows that in 2021, Japan lost more than 640,000 people. This week on Deep Dive Japan Times staff writer Alex Martin joins to discuss Japan’s declining population, and why one town in Saitama thinks it’s not all bad news.
Read more:
On this episode:
Alex K.T. Martin: Articles | Twitter
Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram
Transcript:
We now have transcripts for episodes of Deep Dive. A full transcript of this episode is available on The Japan Times website. Find transcripts useful? Tips for improvement? Contact us to let us know.
Announcements: Get in touch with Oscar and the show at [email protected]. Support the show. Rate, review and share this episode with a friend if you've enjoyed it. Follow us on Twitter, and give us feedback.
This episode of Deep Dive may be supported by advertising based on your location. Advertising is sourced by Audioboom and is not affiliated with The Japan Times.
Photo: Nestled along its namesake river and set against lush forests and mountains, the town of Tokigawa, is fighting against its declining population. | COURTESY OF TOKIGAWA TOWN
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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 81: Chocolate in Japan: From Paris to the Ogasawara Islands w/ Jeana Cadby
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02/10/21 • 27 min

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Jeana Cadby, PhD in specialty cacao and craft chocolate, takes us on a tour through the history of chocolate in Japan.
We also look at the the recent growth of the country’s craft chocolate scene, as well as the pioneering chocolatiers who have managed to grow cacao on Tokyo’s Ogasawara Islands for the first time.
Read more:
On this episode:
Jeana Cadby: LinkedIn | Articles
Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram
Announcements
:
Sign up to the Deep Dive mailing list and be notified every time a new episode comes out. Get in touch with us at [email protected].
Support the show! Rate us, review us and share this episode with a friend if you've enjoyed it. Follow us on Twitter, and give us feedback.
This episode of Deep Dive may be supported by advertising based on your location. Advertising is sourced by Audioboom and is not affiliated with The Japan Times.Photo: Chocolate by Tokyo Cacao, who grow cacao trees on the Ogasawara Islands. | COURTESY OF TOKYO CACAO
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Deep Dive from The Japan Times - 179: Bear goes the neighborhood? Japanese wildlife is on the move
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11/16/23 • 22 min

As nature reclaims depopulated villages and climate change wreaks havoc on food sources, Japan’s animal population has been inching closer to the country’s urban areas. This week, Alex K.T. Martin joins us to discuss why people are encountering bears, boars and other wildlife in the most unlikely of places.
Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.
On this episode:
Shaun McKenna: Articles | X
Alex K.T. Martin: Articles | X
Dave Cortez: Articles | X
Read more: Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Photo: Bears doing yoga? If you’re in the city, why not? | GETTY IMAGES
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FAQ

How many episodes does Deep Dive from The Japan Times have?

Deep Dive from The Japan Times currently has 214 episodes available.

What topics does Deep Dive from The Japan Times cover?

The podcast is about News, Society & Culture and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Deep Dive from The Japan Times?

The episode title '156: Kishida’s close call, Kyoto’s dual festivals and the now not-so-novel coronavirus' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Deep Dive from The Japan Times?

The average episode length on Deep Dive from The Japan Times is 29 minutes.

How often are episodes of Deep Dive from The Japan Times released?

Episodes of Deep Dive from The Japan Times are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Deep Dive from The Japan Times?

The first episode of Deep Dive from The Japan Times was released on Oct 23, 2018.

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