I report on news and features on a wide range of topics in Japan, including politics, business, labor, gender and culture. I’ve also focused on how the society has changed and how it has responded to the declining birthrate and the change in its population, which is aging at the fastest pace in the world.
I started my journalism career as a researcher at the Tokyo bureau of The Los Angeles Times in 1999, when the Japanese started to suffer after the bubble economy’s collapse in the 1990s, and I reported on changes in people’s lifestyles, social systems and business practices. I joined The Times in 2012. I majored in English at Shikoku Gakuin University, and I was born and raised in Kurashiki, Okayama.
As a Times journalist, I share the values and adhere to the standards of integrity outlined in The Times’s Ethical Journalism Handbook. I’m committed to protecting my sources and writing fairly and accurately. I do not accept gifts from businesses or individuals who may appear in my articles. I do not pay for information or interviews. I do not belong to a political party. Nor do I make political contributions or participate in political or other causes.
Email: hisako.ueno@nytimes.com
X: @hudidi1
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Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ superstar, drove massive interest for the World Series in Japan, where more than 15 million people watched each of the first two games.
By Hisako Ueno and John Yoon
The Japanese electorate appeared to punish the Liberal Democrats, leaving it unclear whether the party would be forced to expand its coalition to stay in power.
By Motoko Rich, Kiuko Notoya and Hisako Ueno
Scientists in Japan are mining DNA to try to make the country’s famous Koshihikari rice resistant to heat, after a broiling summer ravaged the crop.
By River Akira Davis, Hisako Ueno and Noriko Hayashi
An assailant tried to breach security at the office of the new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, the police in Tokyo said.
By River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno
Toshiyuki Mimaki, the chairman of Nihon Hidankyo, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said his foremost wish was to “please abolish nuclear weapons while we are alive.”
By Hannah Beech, Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya
This was featured in live coverage.
By Hannah Beech, Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya
Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks have dedicated their lives to campaigning for nuclear disarmament. Their mission has grown more urgent as the number of living witnesses to the bombings has dwindled.
By John Yoon, Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya
Her alto timbre, for which she was teased as a child, and radiant laughter shaped how millions experienced the blue robot in the quintessential anime of the same name.
By John Yoon and Hisako Ueno
‘We don’t want to send the message to the younger generation that we’re people who have to hide ourselves.’
By Chang W. Lee, Motoko Rich and Hisako Ueno
The episode provided political fodder for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s critics and highlighted the country’s generally high standard of dress.
By Mike Ives and Hisako Ueno