Joel Tansey - The Japan Times

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Joel Tansey

Joel joined The Japan Times in 2017 after four years as a reporter with Black Press Media in western Canada. He's currently a senior news editor and in 2022 he helped launch a new section of the paper focusing on climate change, earth science and other environmental issues.

Jutta Leerdam celebrates after winning gold in the women's 1,000 meters on Monday at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

OLYMPICS

Feb 10, 2026

Dutch pair in a class of their own as Japan’s Takagi wins eighth Olympic medal

Femke Kok set an Olympic record but her teammate one-upped her in the final pairing of the night as the Netherlands took the top two podium places in the women’s 1,000 meters.

Team Italy celebrates after Matilde Fantin (17) scored past Japan goalie Miyuu Masuhara on Monday at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

OLYMPICS / Ice Hockey

Feb 9, 2026

Smile Japan loses Olympic heartbreaker to Italy

The favored Japanese squad got behind early for the second-straight game and couldn’t recover as Italy took a 3-2 decision.

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto performs in the women’s free skate of the team event at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Sunday.

OLYMPICS / Figure skating

Feb 9, 2026

Japan’s comeback bid falls just short as U.S. takes team figure skating gold in Milan

Team Japan was nearly flawless on Sunday at the Milano Cortina Olympics, but Ilia Malinin had the last word.

Canada's Mikael Kingsbury during training at the FIS Freestyle World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on March 19, 2025

OLYMPICS / Alpine skiing

Feb 8, 2026

Kingsbury and Horishima set to renew moguls rivalry at Milano Cortina

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury is chasing gold at what might be his final Olympics, with Ikuma Horishima his main rival.

Gold medalist Kira Kimura of Japan celebrates on the podium

OLYMPICS / Snowboarding

Feb 8, 2026

Snowboarder Kira Kimura gets Japan off to golden start at Milano Cortina Olympics

Japan struck gold early as Kira Kimura rallied from fourth with a massive last jump to beat teammate Ryoma Kimata in men’s big air.

Flagbearer Sena Tomita of Japan holds the country's flag in the athletes parade during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics' opening ceremony in Livigno, Italy, on Friday.

OLYMPICS

Feb 7, 2026

‘We rise by lifting others’: Milano Cortina Olympics’ opening ceremony touts unity

Japan, boasting one of the largest delegations of athletes, saw speedskater Wataru Morishige in Milan and snowboarder Sena Tomita in Livigno carry the nation’s flag.

Makoto Ito (19) celebrates with her teammates after scoring the go-ahead goal in Japan's victory over France on Friday at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

OLYMPICS / Ice Hockey

Feb 6, 2026

Smile Japan opens Olympic campaign with narrow win over France

Makoto Ito broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period and Japan held on to beat a game French squad.

Ayumu Hirano competes in the men's halfpipe final at the 2022 Beijing Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China. Hirano won gold in the event.

OLYMPICS

Feb 6, 2026

The star athletes from Japan and abroad competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics

The Milano Cortina Olympics, perhaps more than any other Winter Games, will pack plenty of punch when it comes to household names.

Japan's Shiori Koike skates during a practice session in Milan on Tuesday.

OLYMPICS / Ice Hockey

Feb 5, 2026

Smile Japan hopes to keep hearing favorite song during Milano Cortina Games

Japan has yet to reach the podium but has shown it can compete with the countries ranked just below Goliaths Canada and the United States.

Figure skaters Masaya Morita (left), Utana Yoshida (center) and Kaori Sakamoto pose for photos in the athletes' village at the Milano Cortina Olympics in Milan on Tuesday.

OLYMPICS

Feb 5, 2026

Japan has high hopes as Winter Olympics return to Alps

The Milano Cortina Games are the most widespread in the history of the Olympics, taking place in venues from Milan to the resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Stars Kobe (in solid blue), the Kansai region's first professional ice hockey team, has introduced the sport to a whole new audience since beginning play in September of last year.

MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey

Jan 28, 2026

Kansai’s first pro ice hockey team chases fans and wins

Stars Kobe’s first win gave Kansai its first taste of pro hockey joy, but now comes the hard part: growing the fan base in a market ruled by baseball.

Chiba competes in the women’s short program at the 2025 worlds in Boston on her way to taking the bronze medal.

OLYMPICS / Figure skating

Jan 25, 2026

After stumble in Nagoya, Mone Chiba targets more confident skate in Milan

The 20-year-old struggled under the bright lights of the Grand Prix Final last month but is determined to skate with renewed confidence as she makes her Olympic debut.

Kaori Sakamoto skates during a practice session at Sysmex Kobe Ice Campus on Friday.

OLYMPICS / Figure skating

Jan 18, 2026

Kaori Sakamoto motivated by gold — and her no-nonsense coach — ahead of final Olympics

The three-time world champion will face one of her toughest tests yet as she aims for an elusive Olympic gold in Milan next month.

Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda ahead of practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Oct. 25

MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing

Dec 3, 2025

Tsunoda’s Red Bull dream comes to an end. Where does he go from here?

Tsunoda has joined a long list of Red Bull cast-offs who struggled to deal with the pressure of lining up alongside one of the sport’s all-time greats.

Jenson Button races for Honda during the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008.

MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing

Nov 8, 2025

Jenson Button brings end to an illustrious racing career intertwined with Japan

The 2009 Formula One champion spent many years in Honda-powered cars and had his biggest post-F1 triumph in 2018 in Japan’s Super GT series.

The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.

JAPAN / Society

Oct 13, 2025

After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity

The 184-day event started on shaky ground amid concerns over the pace of construction and a lack of public interest but proved to be enormously popular.

Inna Ilina, vice president of the Ukraine Pavilion, says she is grateful her country was able to participate and send out a clear message: Ukraine and its democratic values are not for sale.

JAPAN

Oct 13, 2025

At Osaka Expo pavilions, staff recount ‘life-changing’ experiences

Nearly 160 countries and regions participated in the Osaka Expo, with each bringing staff from overseas to help run their respective pavilions during the six-month event.

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.

The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.

ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET

Oct 12, 2025

At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?

While major Japanese gas companies have lauded e-methane as key in fighting climate change, experts paint a different picture.

While the World Endurance Championship is seeing increased popularity overseas, the same level of success has eluded organizers in Japan.

MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing

Sep 28, 2025

At Fuji Speedway, WEC rides motorsports momentum to 100th race

The milestone race comes amid a global motorsports boom fueled by Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series and Brad Pitt’s “F1” Hollywood film.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

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