Deep Dive from The Japan Times

The Ainu are Japan's indigenous population and Japan Times contributor Mara Budgen has been meeting with them to better understand their remaining culture, the difficulties they face, and to learn abo...

11 Nov 202032min

In his research, Dan discovers the long history of cannabis in Japan, talks to groups campaigning for the legalization of medical marijuana and the people selling CBD as a relaxation agent during thes...

5 Nov 202028min

As Halloween approaches, author, Bram Stoker Award nominee and host of the podcast "Uncanny Japan," Thersa Matsuura joins us to share her fascination with the Japanese supernatural, and reads us her v...

28 Okt 202033min

Japan has an uncomfortable relationship with tattoos, which are associated with the yakuza and the criminal underworld of Japan. We’re joined by Japan Times contributor and former columnist Alice Go...

21 Okt 202029min

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 in sports might mean for next summ...

14 Okt 202027min

Ginny Tapley Takemori is probably best known for her 2018 translation of "Convenience Store Woman," the bestselling novel by Sayaka Murata, which won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize when it was first ...

8 Okt 202028min

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. Jeremy Umansky and Rich Shih, authors of "Koj...

30 Sep 202026min

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. We hear from Matt as he describes a...

23 Sep 202016min