Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article Kurihara Harumi (born March 5, 1947, Shimoda, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese chef, lifestyle expert, and television personality who in 1994 founded the media and home furnishing corporation Yutori no Kūkan (“A Place to Relax”) kikitakute (“I Want to Hear You Say Delicious”) She also opened a chain of stores that sold her own brand of houseware items—including aprons and cookware—and oversaw several restaurants that used her recipes to create authentic Japanese dishes All of Kurihara’s various endeavours were overseen by her company With a keen interest in sharing her techniques for preparing traditional Japanese dishes with Western audiences Kurihara wrote the English-language cookbook Harumi’s Japanese Cooking: More than 75 Authentic and Contemporary Recipes from Japan’s Most Popular Cooking Expert (2004) Winner of the 2004 Gourmand World Media Award for best book of the year (the first such prize ever bestowed on a book by an Asian author) it was lauded for presenting simple recipes for traditional Japanese cuisine that could be prepared quickly and easily with relatively familiar inexpensive ingredients in lieu of the difficult and laborious techniques that the style of cooking often required Kurihara’s later English-language cookbooks include Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking (2006) and Everyday Harumi (2009) Please log in and check your service registration status.To cancel your subscription 1) === '|') document.write("&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";");else document.write(unescape(l[i]));} This season Kurihara set herself the challenge of using materials she had never used before (fake leather, metallic fabrics, sequins). She called the collection Black and Gold, and so it unfolded: a troupe of glossy black, paneled skirts and floral embroidered vests, broken up by flashes of white in the button-up shirts and white T-shirt sleeves, and then subtle glints of gold in the skirts and Mary Janes. So what is that world all about, and where did the narrative come from? The ornate prints, white ruffles, and Mozart-esque wigs were, surely, a reference to rococo menswear? “Not at all!” trilled Kurihara happily after the show. “If that came through, it was completely unconscious.” The red? “I thought the collection needed it.” And what did you want to convey? “I wanted to create something that would make people think, ‘Oh!’” In that purity of approach lies potent and refreshing creativity; you can’t imagine Kurihara would tolerate the demands of a merchandiser or a marketing department to make her clothes more commercial, and yet they are perfectly wearable. Come autumn, Tao fans in Omotesando and beyond will don those golden skirts and floral-embossed coats on their own morning commutes—each one a little world, shining brightly in the darkness. You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Today's print edition Home Delivery There were no real challengers for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Pacific League last season The team was the class of NPB during the regular season finishing with 91 victories — no other club in Japan had more than 77 — and winning the pennant by 13½ games The only shortcoming was an inexplicable collapse in the Japan Series where the Hawks lost Games 3 through 6 as the Yokohama BayStars claimed the title While many expect the Hawks to win the pennant again flamboyant manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo and his young and up-and-coming Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may finally be ready to pose a challenge and may feed off the confidence of last season’s playoff run.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); The Chiba Lotte Marines will try to prove they are more than Roki Sasaki while the Orix Buffaloes continue to recover from losing Masataka Yoshida and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to MLB in consecutive seasons the Seibu Lions and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles have a long way to go before challenging SoftBank’s supremacy but should be eager to prove they belong in the race for the Climax Series In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division Unbeaten prospect Kenneth Llover passed his toughest test to date with flying colors following a first-round stoppage over Keita Kurihara to claim the OPBF bantamweight title this Monday evening at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo The 22-year-old Llover did not waste any time as he went on the attack throwing his signature jab-straight Llover unleashed a barrage of punches before landing a left hand that sent the hometown favorite crashing to the canvas Kurihara managed to beat the count but was floored again with an overhand left The Japanese boxer got up for the second time but all it took was another left hand from Llover for the referee to wave the contest.  The win improved Llover's perfect record to 14-0 with 9 knockouts {{gallery.imageDetails.images.0.description}} Japanese patent attorney and consultant on intellectual property weighs in on the lawsuit filed by Nintendo against Palworld Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced on September 19 that they have filed a lawsuit against PocketPair over their monster catching survival game Palworld Nintendo claims patent infringement rather than copyright or trademark infringement which means that the lawsuit revolves around things like technology and in-game mechanics rather than similarities in design and concept This has left people wondering what patents of Nintendo Palworld is allegedly infringing. Kiyoshi Kurihara, a Japanese patent attorney and consultant on intellectual property offered an analysis of the situation for Yahoo Japan.  Kurihara starts by addressing the similarities between Palworld and Pokémon: “As you may know there have been opinions about Palworld’s monsters being similar to Pokémon in terms of form.” However Kurihara reckons that these similarities would not have been enough to ascertain copyright infringement but they’re narrowly avoiding it,” he comments.  Nintendo exercised its rights not through copyright seeking injunction and compensation for damages.  [Palworld’s] game system does not seem to be very similar to Pokémon and it seems to be an open-world game similar to Ark it is the mechanic whereby you throw a ball-like object at monsters to capture them If there is any patent infringement to speak of Since the lawsuit against PocketPair was filed jointly by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company Kurihara assumes that the patents in question have to be jointly registered by both companies This narrows down the possibilities to 28 patents there are 4 divisional patent applications that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company registered after Palworld’s launch.   a “divisional patent application” is a type of patent application that contains isolated content from a “parent” patent that has already been registered previously It is usually used to split up a patent that describes multiple technologies.  The most recent such application made jointly by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company is “Patent No the companies requested for the review to be accelerated and the patent was approved as soon as August 22 sped up examination process was used to approve three other patents as well (filed between February 6 and March 5) As the parent patent of these four divisional patents was registered in December 2021 they are legally effective against Palworld which launched in January this year.  the attorney speculates that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed these four divisional patents as part of a common technique of amending an existing patent for use in litigation against a specific (allegedly infringing) property.   It describes (in extremely simplified terms) the following processes: aiming a capture item (Poké Ball) at a character placed on the field (Pokémon) releasing the capture item in a direction determined by player input judgement of whether capturing is successful or not upon contact between the capture item and Pokémon changing of the Pokémon’s status to “owned by the player” when capturing is successful the patent also covers the mechanic of having capture probability displayed to the player Kurihara calls this patent a “killer patent,” commenting “It seems like it would be hard to avoid if you want to make a Pokémon-like game and it’s easy to infringe if you’re not careful.”   The expert does not go into detail about the rest of the remaining three divisional applications made by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company a rough look at their descriptions suggests that the former is related to riding on top of Pokémon while the latter two tie into the specifics of catching Pokémon She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating Dynasty Warriors Origins focused on balanced sex-appeal that doesn’t compromise female characters’ roles and backgrounds, says series producer  Japanese NFT game company’s currency crashes after users discover infinite money glitch Shin Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko says teaching AI to draw like him was more time-consuming than making art from scratch  and website in this browser for the next time I comment AUTOMATON WEST is operated by Active Gaming Media Inc.Reproduction in any form or medium without acknowledgment of Active Gaming Media Inc Copyright © 2025 - AUTOMATON WEST / Theme by Creative Themes Japanese boxer Keita Kurihara kneels beside Filipino bet Renan Portes after their boxing fight in Tokyo SCREENGRAB FROM VIDEO/EDMOND LAPITAN DELLOSA’S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER Japanese boxer Keita Kurihara disowned his victory over Filipino journeyman Renan Portes last Monday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo What seemed an ordinary eight-round boxing match took a bizarre turn after an emotional Kurihara addressed the crowd and boldly said “I didn’t win this fight” shortly following the announcement of his split decision win A video on Facebook that has gone viral also shows a regretful Kurihara apologizing to Portes while inside the Bukidnon native’s locker room It’s shameful that I was declared the winner I apologize,” said Kurihara through a translator A win would’ve been a much needed one for Portes who instead slumped to his 17th loss against 13 wins Kurihara beat another Filipino in Froilan Saludar in a rematch last January in Cebu in a fight where the Japanese knocked out the former world title contender in the eighth round It was a heartbreaking loss for the 35-year-old Portes who had promised his daughter that he would go back home a winner “I promised my child that I won’t return home a loser,” Portes said as seen in a video posted by Edmond Lapitan Dellosa on Facebook I felt groggy but [I fought back] because I promised my child I would bring home the victory.” “He said you won,” a translator told Portes while Kurihara knelt beside the Filipino muttering apologies “He believes you won and that’s what you should tell your child He’s going to fight to let the record reflect that you won.” Investigative stories and local news updates Coverage of the Hawaiʻi State legislature in 2025 Award winning in-depth reports and featured on-going series Get the week’s news delivered straight to your inbox Police described a cascade of problems that led to a delay in informing the public about the outage The public wasn’t notified about a 911 outage until about three hours after problems began because the Honolulu Police Department was struggling to come up with an alternate means of communication Police are investigating what caused the 911 outage and failure of the regular backup system The department’s dispatch center started experiencing problems at 10:38 a.m Sunday that gradually worsened over the course of a few hours Matt Kurihara said during a press conference at police headquarters He said it took communications officials hours to figure out the extent of the issue and come up with a backup solution that could be communicated to the public.  Members of the public were finally notified about the outage at 1:50 p.m. when the city’s Department of Emergency Management pushed out an alert over the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System department director Jennifer Walter said in a telephone interview Kurihara told reporters police still don’t know what caused the outage nor whether that was linked to the backup system failure.  While there have been 911 outages before, including a brief issue reported in Honolulu and Kauai counties in April this was the first time all of the backup systems failed at once Usually we expect our backups will work,” he said “This was the first time we had the experience where all of a sudden that doesn’t work either and now what do we do.” He said the major cellphone carriers and Hawaiian Telcom wireless and television services across the state are investigating what caused the issue.  any technical questions like what happened I’m not able to answer those questions,” Kurihara said.  Hawaiian Telcom spokeswoman Ann Nishida Fry said in a statement that questions should be directed to the wireless carriers.  said in a statement Sunday’s service problem was a “third party issue that impacted all carriers.” She did not respond to follow-up questions about who the third party was.  said in a statement that the company has been in contact with Hawaiian Telcom as they investigate the root cause of the problem.  Police dispatchers at the Joint Traffic Management Center which houses dispatch for multiple agencies including the Honolulu police and fire departments and the Honolulu Emergency Services Department started to notice the problem Sunday morning when they weren’t able to transfer 911 calls to the fire department then route them to EMS or the fire department depending on the type of emergency police dispatchers started taking down all of the information and bringing it over physically to the correct department within the Joint Traffic Management Center But the problem worsened as time went on.  “It seemed like problems just gathered,” he said “We eventually learned we were not getting 911 calls from the major cell carriers Officials in the communications division started looking at the backup systems including its “trunk line,” which is an additional phone line dedicated to receiving incoming 911 calls when the primary system is down Calls were also not going through to most substations across the island’s eight police districts Only those calling 911 from a landline were able to get through The vast majority of 911 calls come from cellphones Regular calls between cellphones were still working so the communications division asked police officers with department-issued cellphones in each of the districts to start handling emergency calls for their area.  The emergency alert that went out just before 2 p.m instructed anyone experiencing an emergency to either call 911 from a landline phone or call one of a series of alternate numbers depending on what district they were calling from Walter said her department was notified about the 911 outage at around 1 p.m but couldn’t push out the alert because the police department did not immediately provide the alternate numbers for callers The emergency management department drafted the alert and police provided the alternate numbers about 50 minutes later “As soon as we had the information we published them within a matter of a few minutes,” she said.  Most of the alternate numbers provided were officer cellphones except for a few that were numbers for district stations that weren’t affected by the outage and were still receiving calls One number was provided for each police district but District 4 on the Windward side had three numbers — one for Kailua When pressed on why it took the department so long to notify the public about the outage Kurihara said it took the communications division time to figure out the extent of the problem and find a solution.  “It’s not like on initial onset we knew everything was broken,” he said the outage had been fixed and the Department of Emergency Management issued a second alert notifying the public that 911 was working again.  Kurihara said he didn’t know if any emergency calls were missed during the outage but he hadn’t heard of anyone who experienced a major emergency and did not receive help.  avoid any major catastrophes or incidents,” he said.  spokeswoman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department said her department has not been notified that anyone received delayed medical help because of the outage Kurihara said the department will look at what can be done to strengthen its backup systems but didn’t provide specifics.  “We need to make sure we’re better prepared for any such contingencies,” he said “but I would like to say that I think we did quite well considering this was on the fly.”  Walter said she would like to see all the agencies involved do an after-action assessment to see what can be learned from the incident.  The Department of Emergency Management has already started looking at what it can do better next time the department experienced an issue with the audio portion of alerts that went out via radio and television broadcast on Sunday While the push alerts that went out to cellphones and rolling messages that appeared on people’s TV screens displayed the correct information the audio portion of the alerts that people could hear on their TVs and radios were dictating a placeholder message that hadn’t been updated with the pertinent information Department staff realized immediately and sent out a second alert with the correct information The department has already updated its protocols to make sure that in a future emergency situation a person is designated to monitor the audio alert that goes out in addition to the written message.  She said this is the first time the Department of Emergency Management has had to use its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to notify the public about a 911 outage The dispatch center has also been struggling with major staffing shortages that has caused burnout and low morale Kurihara said 13 dispatchers were on duty Sunday The department usually aims to have a minimum of 18 an emergency dispatcher and radio operator in Honolulu said she wasn’t on duty Sunday but she has worked during previous 911 outages and it is “beyond stressful.”  She said the staffing shortage is the biggest issue affecting the dispatch center and wants to see the department put more focus on recruiting and retaining communications professionals “The system and integrity of the 911 process speaking as an individual and not as a representative of the police department “It’s literally busting at the seams.”   Unfortunately, being named a finalist for a Pulitzer prize doesn’t make us immune to financial pressures. The fact is, our revenue hasn’t kept pace with our need to grow, and we need your help Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in Hawaiʻi. We’re looking to build a more resilient, diverse and deeply impactful media landscape, and we hope you’ll help by supporting our essential journalism Madeleine Valera is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach her by email at mlist@civilbeat.org and follow her on Twitter at @madeleine_list. Civil Beat has been named the best overall news site in Hawaii for the 14th year in a row by the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter. Difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) represents a broad spectrum of patients with persistent depression where standard treatment modalities are insufficient, yet specific characteristics of this group remain insufficiently understood. This investigation aims to delineate the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of suspected DTD patients in real-world clinical settings. This study sheds light on the intricate nature of suspected DTD, emphasizing the coexistence of MDD, BD, and subthreshold depression within this category. Our findings underscore the necessity for thorough evaluations and tailored treatment approaches for managing suspected DTD. Volume 15 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1371242 Introduction: Difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) represents a broad spectrum of patients with persistent depression where standard treatment modalities are insufficient yet specific characteristics of this group remain insufficiently understood This investigation aims to delineate the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of suspected DTD patients in real-world clinical settings Method: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from patients comprehensively evaluated for suspected DTD at Kyorin University Hospital The study participants consisted of individuals with persistent depression unresponsive to conventional antidepressant treatments during the current episode Diagnoses adhered to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Additional evaluations included the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and other pertinent measures The analysis focused on comparing demographic and clinical characteristics across diagnosed groups Results: The analysis encompassed 122 patients with diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD) in 41.8% high incidences of psychiatric comorbidities were present across all groups with anxiety disorders exceeding 30% and personality disorders surpassing 50% The only significant distinction among the three groups was observed in the MADRS scores with the MDD group exhibiting the highest values (20.9 ± 9.7 vs Conclusions: This study sheds light on the intricate nature of suspected DTD and subthreshold depression within this category Our findings underscore the necessity for thorough evaluations and tailored treatment approaches for managing suspected DTD DTD is characterized by suboptimal outcomes due to treatment failure and contraindications across any treatment modality a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation and clinical assessment are critical for predicting treatment outcomes in suspected DTD allowing for a more tailored and potentially effective therapeutic approach there have been few previous studies that investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with suspected DTD in real-world settings We therefore conducted cross-sectional research to examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in patients who experienced persistent depression with significant burden despite several failed attempts at antidepressant treatment This study is a retrospective analysis of data from patients who underwent detailed assessment for suspected DTD at Kyorin University Hospital in Tokyo The analysis included patients who (1) reported persistent depression including secondary depression attributable to other psychiatric disorders (2) experienced a substantial burden due to depressive symptoms leading to significant impairments in social functioning (3) had failed antidepressant treatment during the current depressive episode and (4) underwent a comprehensive assessment at Kyorin University Hospital The institutional review board at Kyorin University approved the study (644-03) non-interventional nature of the study and the use of pre-existing obtaining informed consent from participants was deemed unnecessary enabling individuals to request the exclusion of their data from the analysis if desired and social histories were meticulously reviewed via interviews with patients and their family members Diagnoses were established in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders utilizing the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders Additional assessments included the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) to evaluate depressive symptoms the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) for manic symptoms the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) for autism-spectrum traits the Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale (ASRS) for symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) to assess intelligence and the number of antidepressant treatment failure Patients were categorized into three groups based on their diagnosis according to the SCID-I: those diagnosed with MDD (MDD group) and those who have never experienced a major depressive episode (subthreshold depression group) Demographic and clinical characteristics across the three groups were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test or the Fisher’s exact test Post hoc multiple comparisons were performed using the Bonferroni correction following the Kruskal-Wallis test A two-tailed P value of less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant for all tests All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 27.0.1 for Windows (IBM Corporation Out of the 122 patients who reported persistent depressive symptoms 51 patients (41.8%) were diagnosed with MDD and 36 (29.5%) with subthreshold depression 15 patients were classified into BD type I and 20 into BD type II Two of the 36 patients with subthreshold depression did not receive any psychiatric diagnosis Regarding the clinical background of the 122 patients 38 patients (31.2%) had a family history of mental illness 11 patients (9.0%) had physical comorbidities There were no significant differences in age, rate of females, physical comorbidities, education history, marital status, or social status among the three groups. There was a trend towards statistical significance in family history of mental illness (35.3% in MDD group, 40.0% in BD group, and 16.7% in subthreshold depression group, p=0.07) among the three groups Table 1 High incidences of psychiatric comorbidities were observed across the three groups a substantial proportion of individuals in each group had personality disorders and 50.0% in the subthreshold depression group (p=0.01) obsessive-compulsive personality disorder was present in 43.1% of the MDD group and 13.9% of the subthreshold depression group (p<0.01) while avoidant personality disorder was found in 33.3% of the MDD group and 8.3% of the subthreshold depression group (p<0.01) Other significant comorbid conditions included somatoform disorders (2.0% in MDD group and 16.7% in subthreshold depression group p<0.01) and alcohol use disorders (3.9% in MDD group affecting over 30% of individuals in each group (33.3% in MDD group and 44.4% in subthreshold depression group This study is the first to investigate the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with suspected DTD including developmental traits and intelligence quotient (IQ) 40% of the patients were diagnosed with MDD according to the SCID and the remaining 30% with subthreshold depression usually presenting with a combination of various psychiatric disorders No significant differences were observed in sociodemographic and clinical factors among these three groups except for the comorbidity of somatoform disorders and some personality disorders along with the MADRS scores These results underscore the importance of comprehensive assessments in the management of suspected DTD attributing to the multifaceted nature of this condition to facilitate the provision of tailored treatment strategies Our study did not find significant sociodemographic or clinical characteristics to distinctly differentiate MDD and subthreshold depression in suspected DTD patients except for some psychiatric comorbidities and the MADRS scores This underscores the diagnostic complexity of distinguishing between MDD and BD in suspected DTD cases Considering the different treatment protocols recommended for these conditions our results highlight the critical need for meticulous and accurate clinical evaluations Given the potential risks and chronic nature of depressive symptoms close monitoring of patients diagnosed with subthreshold depression within the suspected DTD spectrum is essential Specifically, while significant differences were observed among the three groups in the prevalence of some personality disorders, the overall comorbidity of personality disorders was high, ranging from 50-77% for MDD, BD, and subthreshold depression. It has been proposed that the presence of comorbid personality disorders may contribute to a lower likelihood of remission and a higher likelihood of recurrence of depressive symptoms (27) The findings of the present study also suggest that comorbidity of personality disorders may be a contributing factor to the refractoriness of depressive symptoms There are several limitations that warrant caution in interpreting the findings of this report the study population comprised exclusively of outpatients from a single university hospital in Japan This specific demographic may limit the generalizability of the results to other clinical settings the limited sample size and the absence of a power calculation pose challenges for statistical power and the ability to detect smaller effect sizes This limitation may affect the reliability and generalizability of the findings may not fully represent the current trends in the manifestation of suspected DTD the study relied on the DSM-IV-TR for diagnostic criteria which may not encapsulate recent updates in understanding of psychiatric disorders as outlined in the DSM-5 no assessment scales were utilized to measure the patients’ subjective burden in this study Variations in patients’ awareness of their burden could potentially influence the objective evaluation data collected the study included patients initially treated for depression who were later diagnosed with BD Although antipsychotics and mood stabilizers are the cornerstone of pharmacotherapy for BD as outlined in various practice guidelines this study did not record the patients’ histories of antipsychotic and mood stabilizer use the cross-sectional nature of the study restricts our ability to infer causality or track the progression and treatment response over time A longitudinal approach would offer deeper insights into the dynamics and trajectory of suspected DTD our investigation into suspected DTD reveals the complexity and variability in its clinical presentation particularly highlighting the prevalence of MDD in addition to several psychiatric comorbidities significant differences were not observed in sociodemographic or clinical characteristics with the exception of certain psychiatric comorbidities and the MADRS scores These findings emphasize the need for comprehensive evaluations and suggest the necessity for more extensive and longitudinal research to enhance our understanding and management of suspected DTD The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors The studies involving humans were approved by Institutional Review Board The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements The ethics committee/institutional review board waived the requirement of written informed consent for participation from the participants or the participants’ legal guardians/next of kin due to the retrospective The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers: JP 22K17615) We thank all participants for their participation MM received honorarium from Sumitomo Pharma YM received grants from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and honorarium from Sumitomo Pharma TT received grants from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and honorarium from Takeda Pharmaceutical KW is a consultant of Boehringer Ingelheim HS received grants from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Japan Research Foundation Clinical Pharmacology The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Cumulative remission rate after sequential treatments in depression: reappraisal of the STAR*D trial data Clinical research challenges posed by difficult-to-treat depression assessment and management of difficult-to-treat depression: An international consensus statement Difficult-to-treat depression: A clinical and research roadmap for when remission is elusive Review of dysthymia and persistent depressive disorder: history Safety and efficacy of adjunctive second-generation antidepressant therapy with a mood stabiliser or an atypical antipsychotic in acute bipolar depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of non-response/non-remission in treatment resistant depressed patients: A systematic review A systematic meta-review of predictors of antidepressant treatment outcome in major depressive disorder Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of treatment resistant depression: A prospective European multicenter study Refining prediction in treatment-resistant depression: results of machine learning analyses in the TRD III sample A systematic review of the behaviours associated with depression in people with severe–profound intellectual disability PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Bipolar disorder diagnosis: challenges and future directions Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Diagnosing bipolar disorder and the effect of antidepressants: a naturalistic study Screening for bipolar disorder in the community Effect of prior depression diagnosis on bipolar disorder outcomes: A retrospective cohort study using a medical claims database Is bipolar disorder more common in highly intelligent people Performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) in Japanese patients with bipolar and major depressive disorders in euthymic and depressed states Premorbid intelligence and educational level in bipolar and unipolar disorders: A Danish draft board study Subthreshold” Depression: is the distinction between depressive disorder not otherwise specified and adjustment disorder valid Subthreshold depression in adolescence: a systematic review PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Course of subthreshold depression into a depressive disorder and its risk factors Psychiatric assessment of suicide attempters in Japan: a pilot study at a critical emergency unit in an urban area Personality and the long-term outcome of first-episode depression: A prospective 5-year follow-up study Watanabe K and Sakurai H (2024) Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of suspected difficult-to-treat depression Received: 16 January 2024; Accepted: 06 August 2024;Published: 21 August 2024 Copyright © 2024 Murao, Matsumoto, Kurihara, Oe, Nagashima, Hayasaka, Tsuboi, Watanabe and Sakurai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Hitoshi Sakurai, c2FrdXJhaWhpdG9zaGk0OTg2QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ== Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Brave group announces the establishment of Brave pictures Inc. an animation production studio as a wholly owned subsidiary of Brave group Inc along with the appointment of Yuki Ogawa and Kenichi Kurihara as its directors In addition to commissioned animation production the studio will also promote the development of Brave group’s VTuber IPs through its own original animation features Brave pictures Official Website: https://bravegroup.co.jp/en/brave-pictures/ In order to promote the various VTubers and IPs under Brave group a subsidiary specialized in the production of animation has been established By leveraging the power of Japanese animation Brave group aims to weave great stories to share with the world I am extremely excited to be able to join the Japanese animation industry which I have always admired since I was a kid and work together with all our talented creators We will endeavor to produce works that are uniquely our own and are looking forward to sharing them with everyone around the world In order to support Brave group’s mission to strike wonder in 8 billion hearts via anime I am assuming the role of Director of Brave pictures we will be working together with our trusted veterans in order to create artistically crafted works that can bring wonder to fans I was obsessed with yacht racing from elementary to junior high school The event was titled “sailing,” a competition where you catch the wind with sails and use that power to move across the sea Although I now spend my days running long distances on land Yachting requires a lot of practice and experience to improve I had the opportunity to participate in the World Cup in Italy as a junior representative of Japan I don’t think I had any special talent for yachting I gained firsthand experience that not being afraid of failure and believing in myself as I made continued efforts was crucial in reaching my goals I needed to strengthen my core body strength to handle the instability of yachts and I feel that the sense of balance I cultivated during this time has become the foundation for my running style today My first encounter with track and field was in sixth grade when I participated in the 1000-meter event in a city-sponsored track and field meet but I remember feeling exhilarated by running and being moved by the sensation of cutting through the wind This experience led me to join my junior high school’s track and field club but I switched to long-distance running at my advisor’s recommendation I couldn’t produce results in competitions I didn’t even make it past city-level competitions throughout junior high school no high schools approached me for track and field so I ended up enrolling in a high school that had a good atmosphere when I visited for an open house event I intended to try something new in high school but the high school I entered happened to have a powerhouse track and field team but after an invitation from a friend who had joined the track team a trial participation somehow led to my joining the team there was no dramatic turn of events where my abilities suddenly blossomed; there Being one of the top schools in the prefecture there was such a large gap in ability between myself and others that my teammates started to wonder if I would quit before summer For the first year after entering high school and there were many times when I felt close to heartbreak As I continued practicing without becoming discouraged my seniors began accompanying me on morning group runs giving me advice on running and consulting with me about lifestyle matters As communication with my seniors deepened trust within the team I felt a potential I had never experienced before but COVID-19 led to all major competitions being cancelled and my high school life ended without the opportunity to demonstrate my true abilities I learned about Meiji Gakuin University when a senior from my high school track team enrolled there I strongly desired to participate in the Hakone Ekiden marathon while at university and I considered going to a school known for its strong track program I believed my success so far was possible only because of my connections with the many people who had supported me I wanted to remember that feeling of gratitude and I thus wanted to enroll in a university that would respect this way of thinking The slogan of Meiji Gakuin’s track team is “Gratitude and Contribution,” and that aligned with my personal philosophy I learned that under the guidance of excellent coaches they conduct activities that respect students’ autonomy I was convinced that this was an environment in which I could grow both as an athlete and as a person guiding my decision to enroll at Meiji Gakuin University The reason I wanted to join the Faculty of Law’s Department of Juridical Studies was that through the study of law I wanted to acquire knowledge necessary as a working adult and to develop rational thinking and problem-solving skills Since I wasn’t aspiring to become a legal professional I was also attracted to the fact that the department has a system that allows students to choose courses according to their future career paths and interests I naturally joined the Track and Field Club’s Long-distance division and devoted my days to classes and club activities My seniors at the time were very approachable and there wasn’t a strict hierarchy like that often seen in school clubs Our relationship allowed us to share opinions on equal footing and organize our practice environment while thinking for ourselves That was comfortable for me and helped me improve my track performance it was my track team members who supported me at that lowest point of my life They treated me the same as usual the next day standing by me without even mentioning what had happened I felt that Meiji Gakuin’s educational philosophy of “Do for Others” and the track team’s motto of “Gratitude and Contribution” were not just superficial words but principles that were alive at this school I absolutely wanted to be the one supporting the team My aerophagia symptoms gradually improved with each practice and competition and a significant turning point came during the 100th Hakone Ekiden preliminaries in my third year With determination to believe in myself and my continued efforts without fearing failure I approached the race intending to pull off an aggressive race development I managed to stick with the leading group of Japanese runners up to the 10-kilometer mark passing it in 29 minutes and 20 seconds: over a minute and a half faster than my personal best I still had reserve energy in my legs and felt like I could run indefinitely This experience allowed me to reassess my limits and I felt like I’d broken through some thick shell I believe that being able to adopt a mindset of enjoying the challenge of pushing my limits without deciding “this is as far as I can go” led to my subsequent Meiji Gakuin records I’m thinking of nothing but securing Meiji Gakuin University’s first-ever team participation in the main race at the 101st Hakone Ekiden preliminaries I sincerely hope that many people will come to cheer for us in person and witness a heart-stirring run by the Meiji Gakuin track team I plan to continue competing even after graduation I want to see how much I can grow and confirm my further potential I sincerely hope that by continuing to run I can someday repay Meiji Gakuin University which has provided me with many growth opportunities Vietnam – Japan cooperation could serve as a model for smaller countries striving for sustainable development without overreliance on external factors Tokyo (VNA) – Amid rising global trade tensions driven by the US tariff policy cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is becoming extremely important due to their many similarities according to Professor Kurihara Hirohide from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondent in Japan ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s official visit to Vietnam from April 27 to 29 Professor Kurihara said Vietnam and Japan are nations with limited natural resources and share a commitment to pursuing a foreign policy of independence and self-reliance In the current climate of global uncertainties the bilateral relationship holds greater significance than ever He suggested that Vietnam – Japan cooperation could serve as a model for smaller countries striving for sustainable development without overreliance on external factors the scholar viewed it as an important opportunity for both countries to explore new avenues of collaboration in a shifting global landscape and green transformation are crucial areas in which the two countries can deepen their partnership Kurihara described the rising number of Vietnamese workers in Japan in recent years as a positive sign he noted that Japan should improve how it utilises this source of manpower to maximise Vietnamese workers' potential He said Vietnam offers a highly capable labour force and that efficient use of this resource will bring great mutual benefits The professor also underlined Vietnam’s importance in Japan’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia He expressed confidence that Vietnam – Japan cooperation can serve as a testament to how two countries that are not major powers can pursue their own development paths effectively./ Economic cooperation will be a central focus of the Japanese PM's coming visit with both sides aiming to improve the investment environment Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru decided to choose Vietnam as his first destination as the Southeast Asian is a very important partner of Japan Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s upcoming official visit to Vietnam is hoped to reaffirm Japan’s commitment to fostering bilateral cooperation in key areas such as security - defence and responses to regional and global challenges Party General Secretary To Lam praised the Vietnamese community in Kazakhstan for their integration into the local society as well as their solidarity and efforts to preserve the national identity Vietnam always values Sri Lanka’s invaluable support during its past struggle for national independence as well as in its ongoing renewal and international integration the full draft resolution on the supplementations and amendments to some articles of the 2013 Constitution and accompanying documents will be publicised for public comment Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was present at the airport to welcome the Vietnamese leader and delegation Sri Lanka regards Vietnam as a source of inspiration and encouragement in its own quest for progress and recovery Leaders of Vietnam and Sri Lanka discussed and agreed on key directions to uplift bilateral relations to the next level during the state visit to Vietnam by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka on May 4-6 Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka expressed his belief that the steadfast friendship and enduring partnership between Sri Lanka and Vietnam will pave the way for a brighter future for both nations The decision paves the way for the streamlining of the political system's organisational apparatus with revisions focusing on the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front The Cambodian official highlighted the pride of marching alongside forces from Vietnam marking the first time a Vietnamese-hosted parade featured foreign troops – a meaningful gesture in today’s global challenges The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency Party General Secretary To Lam said that this session is addressing numerous crucial issues he stressed that any constitutional amendments must strictly adhere to legal procedures and ensure broad public consultation Vietnam actively participates in international forums and supports the universalisation of the convention Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu said Legislators will look into and adopt a resolution amending and supplementing several articles to the Constitution 2013 describing this a strategic task of both political and legal significance to institutionalise the Party’s major policies especially the reorganisation of the state apparatus towards a streamlined and efficient structure that is closer to the people and more responsive to reality Noting that Vietnam and Sri Lanka still have great potential in economic the two leaders vowed to take stronger measures to increase two-way trade and investment aiming for bilateral trade turnover of 1 billion USD and considering the possibility of negotiating and signing a bilateral free trade agreement when conditions permit PM Chinh reiterated the 2025 target of 8% GDP growth an economic size exceeding 500 billion USD Participants reviewed the historical significance of April 30 1975 - a pivotal turning point marking the complete victory of the Vietnamese nation in the cause of national liberation and reunification as well as a shared triumph of progressive humanity for justice and the right to self-determination of peoples worldwide President Cuong thanked Sri Lanka for supporting Vietnam in the past struggle for national independence and for cooperating closely with Vietnam in the current process of national construction The visits serve as additional important steps to implement the foreign policy of independence multilateralisation and diversification of external relations identified at the 13th National Party Congress Sharing with the President of Sri Lanka about the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh President Cuong affirmed that he was the most beautiful symbol of patriotism and revolutionary heroism of Vietnam he devoted his entire life to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the Vietnamese people National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said laws and resolutions passed during the 15th NA’s ninth extraordinary session are effectively serving the streamlining of the state apparatus toward a leaner more efficient political system while unlocking new space for socio-economic development 2008 by the Ministry of Information and Communications Email: vietnamplus@vnanet.vn Reproduction in any form is prohibited without written consent cooking expert Kurihara Harumi began looking for ways to deal with her grief Now she works on "meals for one" recipes to help people cope with living alone Watching Neo Sora’s debut feature “Happyend,” a coming-of-age film set in the near future I was reminded of stories I’d heard from my wife about her Tokyo high school which was shut down for weeks in the turbulent 1960s by student protesters But instead of battling cops on the streets she served as the president of a Beatles fan club and saw “A Hard Day’s Night” about 30 times the film draws a similar contrast between social turmoil outside the confines of an upscale urban high school as a major earthquake looms and the personal lives of its students from a practical joke they play to annoy their principal (a wonderfully caustic Shiro Sano) to the tight but troubled friendship of the two main protagonists.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); the film’s kids view potential disaster and present oppression by shadowy xenophobic authorities with something less than life-or-death urgency as though they were seeing it from inside a bubble This makes their semi-dystopian world and its discontents feel more like metaphors than anything present and real Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Colossal Japanese artist Kaori Kurihara (previously) creates otherworldly fruit-like ceramics that appear as though they have sprouted in a magical rainforest or exist in a children’s book Kurihara’s sculptures take a creative spin on the shapes and textures found in thistles resembles a purple durian with a brown seed-like head while another is textured like pineapple and equipped with a top evoking an artichoke Kurihara studies the geometric repetition found in edible botanicals and reproduces their repeating patterns in similar ceramic forms Each piece is delicately and meticulously crafted and Kurihara first constructs the base then adds the details sculpting patterns into the main shape using her hands and a series of tools The artist studied pottery at SEIKA University in Kyoto in addition to jewelry making in France, where she learned enameling techniques that she now uses when creating her sculptures. To view more of her work, visit her site and Instagram Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now Join more than 200,000 subscribers and get the best of art and visual culture from Colossal Copyright © 2025 Colossal. See our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy KENNETH Llover lived up to expectations and destroyed Keita Kurihara in just a single round to wrest the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight crown in Tokyo The undefeated Filipino sent the Japanese champion twice to the canvas behind a pair of left hand before the referee waved off the fight when Llover landed another left that rocked Kurihara anew before a stunned crowd at the famed Korakuen Hall Llover went to the top rope and screamed on top of his voice as he won the first major title belt of his budding career Official time was at the 2:33 mark of the opening round Managed by two-time world champion Gerry Penalosa and handled by Elmer Anuran of Titleholder and Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy The compact Filipino team is set to arrive in Manila on Tuesday night had to take the later flight as Japanese promoters began to take a huge interest in the rising Filipino prospect The win was the second straight for Llover in Japan after a similar first round stoppage of Tulio Dekanarudo in Osaka last December which was over in just 58 seconds Kurihara didn’t last that long as Llover swarmed all over him right from the opening bell eventually setting up the Japanese with his left straight that put the champion down for the first time but the Filipino went straight to him right away and threw a series of combination before being caught with another left for the second knockdown of the fight It was the beginning of the end for Kurihara who will lost his OPBF title a few seconds after Kurihara saw his record fell to 19-9-1 including 16 KOs Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph Spin.ph has been granted the NPC Seal of Registration in recognition of the successful registration of its DPO and DPS We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on Spin.ph. By continued use, you agree to our privacy policy and accept our use of such cookies. Find out more here This website uses cookies Michio Kurihara recording session for A Sky Record at Peace Music The former Ghost member and roving avant guitar-for-hire selects his favourite instrumental excursions Michio Kurihara is one of the most instantly recognisable guitar stylists to break out of the modern Tokyo rock scene his euphoric solos explore space and tone in a freeform spirit which became a signature of the psych explosion of the 1990s and 2000s Rory Gallagher “Messin’ With The Kid”From Live In Europe (Polydor) 1972 at a record store in a neighboring town when I was 16 years old I became interested in Rory Gallagher when I read an article about him in a music magazine that my brother had at the time It just so happened that this live album was the only album of his that the record store had I still remember the excitement I felt when the first song started "What a cool sound!" The exquisite intonation of the backing and the guitar solo that was full of emotion And the picking harmonics that seemed to be produced by force I think he and many other guitarists reached a high level of playing at a young age was a pioneer in perfecting the use of the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster I would like to express my sincere respect for the achievements of these great predecessors I'm still experimenting and trying to sound as good as he did.Blue Cheer “Parchment Farm”From Vincebus Eruptum (Philips) 1968 The first time I heard Blue Cheer play was when I was 18 years old One of my friends let me listen to a cassette tape that had a really cool song on it something that shocked me beyond description It wasn't until about a year later that I found out it was “Summertime Blues” and “Second Time Around” from the first Blue Cheer album Leigh Stephens’s playing on this album is fantastic he used a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face on this album who was also using a Fuzz Face at the time was constantly controlling the volume of his guitar to adjust the tone Leigh seems to have been gracefully creating his sound by just turning the fuzz on and off The speed of this song in particular and the crazy solo in the middle section are perfectly wonderful I don't know how they were able to create such eccentric arrangements and phrases back then I think I've been greatly influenced by Leigh Stephens’s playing as well.Can “Mary Mary So Contrary”From Monster Movie (Music Factory) 1967 The first time I heard Can was when I was 22 years old One of my band mates at the time played this album for me I immediately liked the group because of their wonderful ensemble playing It was a real shame that I had never heard of them before Michael Karoli’s guitar sounded incredibly beautiful The solo in the middle section is so wonderful that there are no words to describe it I was also quite influenced by the drone-like approach of the high-note guitar in the second half the song “Thief” on “Delay 1968” a collection of their unreleased material released in 1981 Michael Rother’s solo works (“Katzenmuzik” which Damon recommended to me a few years ago include the participation of Can's drummer Jaki Liebzeit such as the long tone phrases with the unique fuzz tone.Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges“Trem De Doido” From Clube Da Esquina (Odeon) 1972 I think the first time I heard this song was around 2003 when I was on tour with Damon & Naomi in the US "What is this song?” The soundman kindly wrote down the name of the song and album on a small piece of paper and handed it to me he knew the record and told me more about it but Beto Guedes's lead guitar playing is so cool I suspect the guitarist is using a Maestro FZ-1 or similar model (maybe!) The fuzz tone with a lot of reverb is just brilliant The influence of this guitar is reflected in the song “House Of Glass” from Damon & Naomi's album The Earth Is Blue.Quicksilver Messenger Service “Pride Of Man”From Quicksilver Messenger Service (Capitol) 1968 The first song of theirs that I came across was “Fresh Air” I was very impressed by Dino Valenti's unique voice and beautiful piano but I still didn't realise how great John Cipollina's guitar was after listening to Quicksilver's first album I finally understood the greatness of Cipolina The guitar in “Pride Of Man” is particularly wonderful It's a short guitar solo of about 30 seconds colour and expressiveness of the sound are all excellent And I think he is the coolest user of Bigsby tremolo in the world That's why I was completely knocked out by his brilliant playing When we visited Cleveland during a Damon & Naomi tour we stopped by the Rock ’N’ Roll Hall of Fame There was a display of Cipollina's guitar and amp system I stared at them from every angle and memorised them in my brain (I could confirm that the guitar's nut seemed to have a mirror finish and the Twin Reverb speakers were JBL K-120!) It was a very happy time.Television “Little Johnny Jewel”From The Blow-Up (ROIR) 1982 I got this album released on cassette tape in the early 80s but I can feel the tension and raw enthusiasm of the band which is in contrast to their studio albums By Michio Kurihara Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. Copyright THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Bone-conduction devices can be considered a viable treatment option for patients experiencing asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), especially those with severe to profound hearing loss (HL) present in one ear. However, there are only a few reports on the effects of bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) on patients with AHL. This retrospective study analyzed in detail the effects of BAHA on softer sounds than other hearing aids and identified situations in which BAHA had a negative effect. This study identified scenarios in which BAHAs were beneficial and detrimental to individuals with AHL. Generally used audiological tests, such as the WRS with fixed sound pressure, may underestimate the effectiveness of BAHAs for softer sounds. In addition, depending on the direction of the noise, BAHAs may have adverse effects. These results could help patients comprehend the potential benefits and limitations of bone-conduction devices for their hearing. Clinical Research in Auditory Implants and Hearing Aids Volume 2 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fauot.2024.1362443 Purpose: Bone-conduction devices can be considered a viable treatment option for patients experiencing asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) especially those with severe to profound hearing loss (HL) present in one ear there are only a few reports on the effects of bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) on patients with AHL This retrospective study analyzed in detail the effects of BAHA on softer sounds than other hearing aids and identified situations in which BAHA had a negative effect characterized by severe to profound hearing loss in one ear with a difference of ≥45 dB from that of the contralateral ear underwent BAHA implantation in the ear with worse hearing The BAHA effects were evaluated by assessing the word recognition score (WRS) and speech reception threshold (SRT) using the Japanese Oldenburg Sentence Test for various signal settings and noise directions Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12) score was determined Results: Thirteen patients who underwent BAHA implantation at the Miyazaki University Hospital between 2007 and 2021 were included The BAHA demonstrated a significant improvement in the WRS from 40 to 70 dB sound pressure levels Although the SRT showed significant improvement in noisy environments when speech was presented to the BAHA-wearing side it worsened significantly when noise was presented to this side In the survey of subjective hearing ability both the total and subscale SSQ12 scores improved significantly after wearing the BAHA Conclusion: This study identified scenarios in which BAHAs were beneficial and detrimental to individuals with AHL may underestimate the effectiveness of BAHAs for softer sounds These results could help patients comprehend the potential benefits and limitations of bone-conduction devices for their hearing Although these BCD studies of patients with AHL have yielded further insights they have not been able to fully evaluate the contribution of BAHAs in daily life evaluations of the effects of softer sounds Most previous studies fixed the sound pressure level of speech signals to a level similar to that encountered in everyday life (65–75 dB) to assess the effects of BCDs on word recognition BCDs can further promote the effect of softer sound stimuli in AHL listening comprehension is worsened by BCDs when noise is presented to the BCD-wearing side It is important to know under what circumstances and to what degree hearing performance can be compromised This study investigated patients with asymmetric hearing loss marked by severe to profound hearing loss in one ear with a difference of ≥45 dB from that in the contralateral ear who underwent implantation on the side with worse hearing This target group was established because patients with more significant left–right differences in hearing tend to be the ones who have to give up sound input from the worse-hearing ear A word-recognition test was performed by sweeping the sound pressure from a low speech level (40 dB) discrimination of speech in noise was analyzed by changing the directions of the noise and the signal speaker The findings of this study can provide insights into the use of BCDs in patients with AHL and can be applicable to patients with SSD The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the ethics review board of the University of Miyazaki (protocol code O-0702) Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study All 13 participants received a Baha 5 sound processor fitted by experienced audiologists using the Baha Fitting Software The final gain settings were established by measuring the actual thresholds The hearing threshold was measured using the BAHA The inspection sounds were presented using audiometers (AA-H1; Rion Japan) that met the Japanese Industrial Standards To evaluate the word recognition score (WRS) the 67-S (Japanese nonsense monosyllable CD) was evaluated 1 m from the front speaker unit in a shielded room The responses were obtained by uttering a sound All speech-perception test grades were calculated as percentages of correct answers Experienced audiologists performed all tests BAHA-aided and unaided conditions were tested with signals presented from the front (0° azimuth) or at the implanted ear (±90° azimuth) the contralateral ear was not masked by using a hearing aid when the signal was presented to the implanted ear The contralateral ear was covered with earmuffs and ear plugs or masked with narrowband noise during pure-tone and sound-field audiometry and by broadband noise during speech tests Experienced audiologists determined the requirement for masking The Japanese Oldenburg Sentence Test (OLSA) was used to determine speech discrimination in noise Twenty test sentences per list were presented in random combinations with a fixed scheme (name and verb) using background noise at a sound pressure level (SPL) of 65 dB with a 50% correct word score (critical S/N) was achieved by adjusting the SPL for each sentence depending on the response to each test item and was defined as the speech-reception threshold (SRT) The tests were performed with and without the BAHA when presenting the signal to the ear with an implant the contralateral ear was not masked with a hearing aid if the patient used one Sound presentation was applied in three different conditions as follows: (1) Both speech and noise were presented from the front (original setting of OLSA); (2) speech was presented from the side speaker (±90° azimuth) toward the worse-hearing ear whereas noise was presented from the side speaker (±90° azimuth) toward the better-hearing ear; (3) speech was presented from the side speaker (±90° azimuth) toward the better-hearing ear whereas noise was presented from the side speaker (±90° azimuth) toward the worse-hearing ear The short form (SSQ12) of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale (SSQ49) in Japanese was used to self-assess hearing disabilities at baseline and when the BAHA was fitted. The SSQ12 had provided results similar to those of the SSQ49 in a previous large clinical study (Noble et al., 2013) The results were analyzed using PRISM software (GraphPad The results are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (SD) A two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the scores of assessments conducted with and without the BAHA The average preoperative pure-tone audiogram and SD for all patients are presented in Figure 1A The mean AC and BC thresholds of the better-hearing ear were 41.03 (SD 14.51) dB HL and 25.38 (SD 5.977) dB HL and those of the worse-hearing ear were 111.9 (SD 17.69) dB HL and 62.18 (SD 9.680) dB HL Average hearing and bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA)–aided thresholds (A) Average and standard deviation of air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC; n = 13) (B) Average and standard deviation of hearing thresholds in the sound field aided by the BAHA by masking the better-hearing ear The BC threshold of the better-hearing ear is depicted together with the BAHA-aided thresholds (n = 13) Figure 1B shows the mean hearing thresholds in the sound field aided by the BAHA after masking better-hearing ears. Aided postoperative sound-field thresholds have been reported to correlate with the BC threshold of the better-hearing ear (Pfiffner et al., 2009) BC thresholds in the better-hearing ear were compared Although some deviations were observed in the low-frequency range the sound-field thresholds in the BAHA group were similar to the BC thresholds of better-hearing ears The results showed that BAHAs significantly improved the WRS at presentation pressures from 40 to 70 dB SPL (40 dB no significant difference was observed for sound presented at 80 dB SPL (80 dB Word recognition score (WRS) under varying presented sound pressures (A) Schematics of the speaker setting and WRS curve depicted by varying the presented word signal and the arrowheads indicate the hearing level (n = 13) Note that the measurement of WRS utilized a monosyllable word list (B) The average and standard deviation of the maximum WRS (n = 13) (C) The average and standard deviation of the threshold in the maximum WRS (n = 13) Word recognition score analyzed by setting the signal from the worse-hearing ear word signals were presented from the worse-hearing ear (n = 8) (A) In the original Japanese Oldenburg Sentence Test (OLSA) setting both speech and noise are presented from the front (0°; n = 6) (B) Possible advantageous scenario: Speech is presented from the side speaker (±90°) toward the worse-hearing ear and noise is presented from the side speaker (±90°) toward the better-hearing ear (n = 6) (C) Possible disadvantageous scenario: Speech is presented from the side speaker (±90°) toward the better-hearing ear and noise is presented from the side speaker (±90°) toward the worse-hearing ear (n = 6) SSQ12 items can be categorized into the following three subcategories: speech, spatial, and quality. Moreover, significant differences were observed in all categories (Figure 5) Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12) The averages and standard deviations of the total items and the three subgroups (speech and quality) have been calculated separately (n = 11) Despite lacking specific details regarding these values their study demonstrated that the use of BAHAs was associated with improved WRS These findings are consistent with the results of our investigation this study scrutinizes and compares its findings with those of previous comparable studies on SSD we used extreme scenarios to assess the efficacy of the BAHA In the scenario where the BAHA was most effective speech was presented to the side containing the BAHA implant (the worse-hearing ear) and noise was presented to the better-hearing ear The SRT improved significantly under these conditions for the scenario in which the BAHA could yield negative effects noise was presented to the BAHA-wearing side (the worse-hearing ear) and speech was presented to the better-hearing ear The SRT decreased significantly under these conditions A few reports have shown negative results with BAHAs for patients with SSD. Hol et al. (2010) reported that the SNR worsened with the BAHA when the signal was presented from the front and noise was presented from the BAHA-wearing side The results obtained in this study suggest that the current BAHA system can negatively affect listening performance in certain situations Whether the OLSA is suitable for measuring the effects of BAHAs under noisy conditions remains an issue that should be considered Although discontinuous noise is applied in the OLSA a relatively steady noise is considered to be applicable in real life In the case of steady and continuous noise the noise reduction function of a sound processor may be effective it is plausible that BCDs may affect spatial hearing ability which cannot be measured using existing audiological evaluations BAHAs are not approved for use by individuals with SSD which is the most common cause of severe asymmetric hearing loss our findings cannot be directly compared with those of other SSD investigations we were unable to perform subgroup analyses based on patients' hearing abilities not all tests could be conducted on every patient further limiting the comprehensiveness of our study results the subjective evaluation was insufficient Only a simplified version of the questionnaire which was inconsistent with an objective evaluation this study revealed the advantages of BAHA implantation in the worse-hearing ear while also highlighting the possibility of worsened hearing in noisy environments These findings can assist clinicians in deciding whether surgical intervention is feasible considering a patient's typical environment It can also enable patient education regarding the potential negative consequences of BAHAs and permit them to adjust the device according to the situation additional research with a larger sample size is required to understand the effects of BAHA implantation in worse-hearing ears fully This study examined the effects of a BCD in patients with asymmetric hearing loss who wore a BCD in the worse-hearing ear and the situations in which the device seemed beneficial and non-beneficial We found that the BAHA device significantly improved patients' WRS under a sound pressure level of 40–70 dB SPL it may worsen the hearing performance in situations where noise is present on the BCD-wearing side The findings of this study yield insights into the use of BCDs in patients with asymmetric hearing loss this information could help patients comprehend the potential benefits and limitations of BCDs for their hearing The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author The studies involving humans were approved by the Ethics Review Board of the University of Miyazaki (protocol code O-0702) Written informed consent for participation was not required from the participants or the participants' legal guardians/next of kin because Informed consent was obtained in the following structured manner Upon receiving approval from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Miyazaki the research team disseminated detailed information about this clinical study via the university's website This included: (i) the purpose and significance of the study including the type of information utilized; (ii) the name of the implementing organization and contact information for queries or complaints; (iii) the approach for managing personal information encompassing aspects of information disclosure This study information remained publicly accessible from the time of the Ethics Committee's approval until the conclusion of the study period The lack of objections from study participants or their representatives was interpreted as implied consent Opt-out Procedure: Participation in the study was entirely voluntary In the event of a participant's decision to withdraw all information gathered about that participant up to that point would be the data could be retained and used if consent was expressly given by the participant such as through academic presentations or publications This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant 22K16914 awarded to TN The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest Unilateral deafness after acoustic neuroma surgery: subjective hearing handicap and the effect of the bone-anchored hearing aid Bone anchored hearing aids for the treatment of asymmetric hearing loss What defines asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss Vestibular schwannoma: when to look for it Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Association of bone conduction devices for single-sided sensorineural deafness with quality of life: a systematic review and meta-analysis Bone-anchored hearing aids in patients with acquired and congenital unilateral inner ear deafness (Baha CROS): clinical evaluation of 56 cases Multicenter results with an active transcutaneous bone conduction implant in patients with single-sided deafness Japan Otological Society (2019). Indication criteria for bone-anchored hearing aids (Baha® System). Available online at: https://www.otology.gr.jp/ (accessed January 28 Google Scholar Efficacy of bone-anchored hearing aids in single-sided deafness: a systematic review Hearing instruments for unilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis Active transcutaneous bone conduction hearing implants: systematic review and meta-analysis Bone conductive implantation in asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) Historical background of bone conduction hearing devices and bone conduction hearing aids Comparison of the bone anchored hearing aid implantable hearing device with contralateral routing of offside signal amplification in the rehabilitation of unilateral deafness spatial and qualities of hearing scale suitable for clinical use: the SSQ12 Bone-anchored hearing aids: correlation between pure-tone thresholds and outcome in three user groups Long-term benefit and sound localization in patients with single-sided deafness rehabilitated with an osseointegrated bone-conduction device Outcomes of bone anchored hearing aids (Baha) for single sided deafness in nontraditional candidates The Bahaystem in patients with single-sided deafness and contralateral hearing loss Functional impairments due to unilateral deafness Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Comparison of speech discrimination in noise and directional hearing with 2 different sound processors of a bone-anchored hearing system in adults with unilateral severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss Understanding patient perspectives on single-sided deafness PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Takahashi K and Tono T (2024) Pros and cons of a bone-conduction device implanted in the worse hearing ear of patients with asymmetric hearing loss Received: 28 December 2023; Accepted: 29 January 2024; Published: 16 February 2024 Copyright © 2024 Kurihara, Ganaha, Nakamura, Kubuki, Saruwatari, Matsui, Takahashi and Tono. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Sho Kurihara, c2t1cmloYXJhQGppa2VpLmFjLmpw Elegant petals, scalloped fans, and seed-like textures coat the Kaori Kurihara’s whimsical ceramic sculptures (previously) She incorporates delicate botanical details with eccentric forms “I try to associate imaginary plants with a more realistic feeling so I observe more consciously the environment in which they grow,” Kurihara tells Colossal She also grows different types of plants from seed in order to observe and record details as they grow “The aim is to create something that looks more alive and closer to life,” she adds Kurihara’s work is featured in the forthcoming book Ceramic Artists on Creative Processes, scheduled for release in February. Pre-order your copy on Bookshop, and explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More HONOLULU — It’s been a few years since Big Island Candies introduced its first collaboration with Harumi Kurihara The offering — Harumi’s Hawaiian Salt Cookies — became an instant hit it made sense that the brand — a favorite in the islands — would once again collaborate with the lifestyle maven who’s been billed as the “Martha Stewart of Japan.” that we worked together and we’re going to be re-introducing this tomorow [Saturday and it will be added to our regular line with the salt cookie,” said Sherrie Holi Big Island Candies’ COO at a media event Friday “We really wanted to create something that (wasn’t) too sweet; the combination of the little bit of sweetness with the bitterness of Kona Coffee was the perfect match … it has a nice balance to it." Speaking through a translator, the award-winning cookbook author said that she is very proud of the cookies. Kurihara noted she doesn’t sell cookies anywhere else. Big Island Candies' stores in Hilo and at Ala Moana Center, along with its website are the only places in the world where people can buy the celebrity homemaker’s special cookies “One of the reasons why Harumi-san wanted to create these cookies is really to thank all of the people of Hawaii,” Holi explained loves Hawaii … She said that she would like to keep supporting Hawaii Harumi’s Kona Coffee Cookies will be available for purchase from Feb and Kurihara will be on-hand at Big Island Candies’ Ala Moana Center store at 9:30 a.m Lianne Bidal Thompson is the digital producer for Spectrum News Hawaii. She writes about community and general news. She can be reached at lianne.thompson@charter.com. Volume 11 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.579714 A correction has been applied to this article in: Corrigendum: Linking the Declarations of Helsinki and of Taipei: Critical Challenges of Future-Oriented Research Ethics Expansion of data-driven research in the 21st century has posed challenges in the evolution of the international agreed framework of research ethics The World Medical Association (WMA)’s Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) has provided ethical principles for medical research involving humans since 1964 WMA issued the Declaration of Taipei (DoT) in 2016 to provide additional principles for health databases and biobanks the ethical principles for secondary use of data or material obtained in research remain unclear the Working Group on Ethics (WGE) of the International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Pharmaceutical Medicine (IFAPP) suggests a closer scientific linkage in the DoH to the DoT focusing specifically on areas that will facilitate data-driven research and to further strengthen the protection of research participants Expanding interests in data-driven clinical science in the 21st century have posed some critical challenges in the recent evolution of research ethics. The International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) has endorsed renovation (ICH GCP Renovation, 2017) to facilitate utilization of reliable real-world data (RWD) for regulatory decision This expands the usability of data derived from ordinary medical practice and research as well as from health databases and biobanks The World Medical Association (WMA) has since clarified some principles for these types of research but we believe it requires further clarity the WMA has refined its core principle to prioritize rights and interests of the research subjects the WMA established an international agreed framework of ethics committee approval of research protocols and the requirement of informed consent from research participants It was its 5th amendment in 2000 that the scope of the DoH was expanded Rather than limited to research involving individual humans it would also cover research on identifiable human material or data its scope has also been extended to include a framework of publication ethics: conflict of interest disclosure publication of both positive and negative research results and study registration in public databases It would now cover “the collection storage and use of identifiable data and biological material beyond the individual care of patients” The strengthened linkage to the DoT in the DoH which is well-known worldwide as established principles for research involving humans is required specifically for facilitating data-driven research while protection of research participants is maintained The DoT states that it provides “additional ethical principles” to the DoH it is a prerequisite to reference the DoT in any revisions of the DoH Since the DoH deals with “research” and the DoT deals with “data/material collection” the frameworks of these two types of activities have been separately considered investigators who are engaged in research without explicit intention of biobank/database development may not be aware of the governance framework defined in the DoT there is an increasing number of cases where the sponsors/investigators of the research or third party outside of the specific research later come to be interested in secondary use of data/material derived from it where there is a possibility of future secondary use of data/material collected in a research project this research should be conducted adhering not only to the DoH but also to the DoT Table 1 shows examples of HDBs and BBs and related examples of research and development (R&D) activities BBs and patient registries must adhere to the DoT Examples of health databases and biobanks and examples of their utilization Real World Data are being generated in the process of daily patient care there has been an increasing number of activities for the development of HDBs to prepare anonymized or coded datasets for future secondary use These activities are sometimes performed by commercial organizations under contract with a hospital/care organization according to recently developed legal frameworks in various countries The physicians’ ethical obligations to adhere to the DoT must be implemented in such processing of patient data Another aspect which needs clarification in the DoH is about the management of incidental findings (IFs) IFs are those identified during the research that are not primary objectives of the research project Policy of reporting IFs is necessary part of valid consent in the DoT but it is not mentioned in the DoH The right of an individual of taking option of knowing/not knowing the IFs should be assured in both DoH and DoT frameworks On the premise of the above-mentioned governance framework both by the DoH and the DoT, we should consider the importance of “individual participant data (IPD) sharing” along with registration of a data sharing plan to a publicly available database, exploring the policies and statements issued from several international organizations, as shown in the Supplementary Material it is crucial that future IPD sharing is planned at the beginning of a research project the concerned ethics committee and then the volunteered participants responsible IPD sharing should be recommended as an “ethical obligation” in the DoH the DoH should include two additional requirements of study registration in a public database of 1) the data sharing plan at the initiation of and 2) full disclosure of results at the completion of a clinical trial genuine anonymized data may have more limitations and processing personal data into anonymized ones before secondary use also requires a legal framework Justification of secondary use of personal data there are two possible avenues for justification: a) application of its article 89 of the GDPR for scientific research allows waiver of explicit consent of an individual subject to appropriate privacy protection; b) justifiable consent to secondary use in line with Recital 33 (GDPR Recital 33) of the GDPR being subject to “recognized ethical standards” To provide justification to above mentioned both approaches the WGE argues the combined use of DoH and DoT should be the ethical basis in the framework of GDPR for secondary use of IPD based in the following reasons: (1) The EDPB already recognized the DoH as the ethical foundation of informed consent (EDPB, 2018) thus the DoT should be the foundation of valid consent for future secondary use of personal data; (2) The EU Clinial Trial Regulation already defined such consent for secondary use separate from consent to clinical trial participation (EU Clinical Trial Regulation, 2014); and (3) The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) have already recognized “Broad informed consent” to secondary use in its guidelines (CIOMS, 2016) the WGE proposes revisions of the DoH necessary to facilitate expanding data-driven clinical science while assuring continued protection of research participants as follows: (1) The relationship between the DoH and DoT should be clearly described in the DoH It should be clarified that not only intentional development of health-databases or biobanks but any research activity must adhere to the DoT where there is any possibility of secondary use or sharing with others of the data/material collected in the research (2) Any future plan of sharing of data and/or material obtained in the research should be clearly described in a study protocol and ICF to be assessed by an ethics committee and to enable the candidate participants to make decision whether to accept this secondary use This consent should be separately and independently obtained from the consent to participate in the proposed research without impact on possible participation in the primary research (3) The right of an individual to decide whether he/she wants to be informed of IFs should be assured (4) In addition to the study registration requirement registration requirements of “data sharing plan” and “study results” in publicly available databases should be explicitly defined as critical elements of physicians’ obligation of knowledge sharing The WGE believes this revision of the DoH to clarify linkage to the DoT will provide a solution for critical challenges of future-oriented research ethics The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s All authors contributed both to the development of the ideas as well as to the writing of the manuscript and the linked Supplementary Material There is no funding received for this research JB is an employee of LIF; AC is an employee of Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group; LC is an employee of Craveri Pharma; LL is an employee of Eli Lilly & Co.; SN is an employee of Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd; JS is an executive consultant of PPH plus GmbH & Co The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.579714/full#supplementary-material Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (2016). International ethical guidelines for health-related research involving humans. Available at: https://cioms.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WEB-CIOMS-EthicalGuidelines.pdf (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar Clinical Trial Act (2017). Act No. 16 of April 14, 2017. Available at: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-10800000-Iseikyoku/0000213334.pdf (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar Clinical trial registration: a statement from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Compliance with legal requirement to report clinical trial results on ClinicalTrials.gov: a cohort study CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The WMA declaration of Taipei: human database and biobanks for the common good CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar European Data Protection Board (2018). Article 29 Data Protection Working Party. Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679. Adopted on 28 November 2017, as last revised and adopted on 10 April 2018. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=623051 (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar Google Scholar Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (2007) Google Scholar Compliance with requirement to report results on the EU Clinical Trials Register: cohort study and web resource CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials Registration and Results Information Submission Final rule (2016) Fed Regist Sep 21; 81 (183) Google Scholar Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use Official Journal of the European Communities Google Scholar Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (2016) Google Scholar Pharmaceutical Evaluation Division, Pharmaceutical Safety and Environmental Health Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2017). On the clinical trial registration. Yakuseiyakushinhatsu 0326 No. 3. 2017 March 26. Japanese. Available at: https://www.pmda.go.jp/files/000223575.pdf (Accessed 20 June 2020) Google Scholar Pharmaceutical Users Software Exchange (2015). PhUSE De-identification standards for CDISC SDTM 3.2. version: 1.01. Available at: http://www.phuse.eu/data-transparency (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar FDA and NIH let clinical trial sponsors keep results secret and break the law CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Recital 33 EU GDPR (2016) Available at: http://www.privacy-regulation.eu/en/r33.htm (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar (2017) Data sharing statements for clinical trials: a requirement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors PLoS Med CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar The Lancet Oncology (2019) Clinical trial registry reporting: a transparent solution needed CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The World Medical Association (1948). The Declaration of Geneva (Last Amended 2017). Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-geneva/ (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar The World Medical Association (1964). The declaration of Helsinki. Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects (Last amended 2013). Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/ (accessed 20 June 2020) Google Scholar The World Medical Association (2002). The Declaration of Taipei on ethical considerations regarding Health Databases and Biobanks (last revised 2016). Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-taipei-on-ethical-considerations-regarding-health-databases-and-biobanks/ (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar The World Medical Association (1949). The International code of medical ethics (last amended 2006). Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-international-code-of-medical-ethics/ (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar The World Medical Association (2016) What we do. declaration of Taipei: research on health databases, big data and biobanks. Available at: https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-taipei/ (Accessed June 20 Google Scholar Broad versus blanket consent for research with human biological samples CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Silva H and Kerpel-Fronius S (2020) Linking the Declarations of Helsinki and of Taipei: Critical Challenges of Future-Oriented Research Ethics Received: 03 July 2020; Accepted: 29 September 2020;Published: 29 October 2020 Copyright © 2020 Kurihara, Baroutsou, Becker, Brun, Franke-Bray, Carlesi, Chan, Collia, Kleist, Laranjeira, Matsuyama, Naseem, Schenk, Silva and Kerpel-Fronius. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use *Correspondence: Chieko Kurihara, Y2hpZWtvLmt1cmloYXJhQG5pZnR5Lm5lLmpw Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish. Soon after graduating from UCLA Samueli in 2014 with a degree in mechanical engineering, Matt Kurihara joined Tesla as an intern. Six years later, he’s a senior mechanical design engineer at the company’s Palo Alto office. We caught up with him and see how he’s doing. The company is really good at recognizing people who put in hard work and who perform. I did not have to actively seek out any of my promotions. In general, individuals who are doing great work get recognized, and promotions come very naturally. Everything at work is team-based, and it’s critical to know how to work well in a group environment. You need to have really good communications skills. You need to learn to rely on the people around you. If you can’t, the product or program will suffer. In the real world, success hinges on how well or how poorly your team works together. School is different because you can isolate yourself. The cutesy and overtly feminine framework that Tao operates within—or “the coquette aesthetic” as it has now been categorized online—has been one of the most notable trends in womenswear lately. But Tao’s take on it feels different; she wields her bows and whistles in such a way that the effect is of protection, rather than decoration. Japan (Reuters) - The road to China's breakdown in relations with Japan began here - a sleepy Tokyo suburb that is home to the reclusive real-estate investor at the centre of the explosive property deal that enraged Beijing.Surrounded by concrete walls security cameras and warnings of guard dogs Kunioki Kurihara has shunned the spotlight in his compound since closing a deal to sell three uninhabited islands in the East China Sea to Japan's government in September.The islands where they are known as the Diaoyu and deemed part of its national territory for centuries.Their $25.5 million sale sent tension soaring between Tokyo and Beijing Seen in Beijing as a nationalisation of private property it sparked violent protests and a boycott of Japanese goods Chinese ships were dispatched to patrol disputed waters.Participants close to the deal describe how a property magnate with heavy debts clinched a deal he had sought with the government for at least six years by playing it off against a fiery nationalist - Tokyo's then-governor Shintaro Ishihara.Ishihara has since resigned to return to national politics at age 80 It was his initial offer to buy the islands that led to a quick government purchase - at a markup of at least half a million dollars.Kurihara declined a request for an interview.His younger brother Hiroyuki has used his sudden fame to promote a book "Senkaku Islands for Sale" -- and a longshot plan to turn the islands into a centre for medical tourism."It's odd that they owned the islands for so long," said Jeffrey Kingston director of Asia Studies at Temple University in Japan "It's only now that the ante is up."FROM FISH PROCESSING TO FLASHPOINTMostly rocky outcroppings which serve as a home to migratory birds and a herd of wild goats about 210 km (125 miles) northeast of Taipei and 1,800 km from Tokyo.The largest rises up like a forest-canopied mountain from the sea A little larger than New York's Central Park the island's highest point tops the Eiffel Tower.The Kuriharas obtained the islands for an undisclosed amount in the 1970s from Zenji Koga his father had run a fish processing plant on Uotsurijima.Japan annexed the islands in 1895 and Koga rented them when they fell under the jurisdiction of colonial Taiwan also annexed by Japan.Taiwan also claims the islands.The Kuriharas obtained the islands after the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972 and interest grew in potential oil and gas deposits.But the family's focus was on commercial and residential property in Omiya a legacy of wealth built up in the rice trade Records show Kunioki pledged at least 75 real estate parcels in Omiya and Tokyo against his bank borrowing.One building next to his house served until recently as headquarters of a Buddhist-affiliated group which preaches that Japan faces an apocalyptic reckoning and invasion by China has described the isles as a potential flashpoint in that conflict.In the summer of 2011 a lawmaker from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party saying he wanted to try to sell the islands to Tokyo governor Ishihara.Ishihara became internationally known in 1989 for his best-seller "The Japan that Can Say No," an argument to reduce Japan's reliance on the protection of the United States."THE STRONGEST PROMISE YOU CAN MAKE"Kurihara described himself as an admirer of the governor and said he wanted to sell him the islands The two met at the Omiya compound in September 2011 and later in Tokyo's fashionable Ginza district where they reached a verbal deal."They shook hands and gave their word to each other as men which in Japan is the strongest promise you can make," she said.In April Ishihara announced a plan to buy the islands estimated Kurihara's net debt at about 1.5 billion yen almost $19 million."I'm not stupid I checked his mortgages," Inose told Reuters.Records show Kurihara had a credit line of almost $50 million The funding was provided by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ a local bank.The final offer from Ishihara's team was just over 2 billion yen two people close to the talks said.But Kurihara had also been talking to the government.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda saw a national bid as a way to head off a more damaging confrontation with China."He first approached us about the islands in 2006," said Akihisa Kameda the official responsible for negotiating the deal.Kameda said Kurihara had earlier rejected proposed swaps for forests or fields elsewhere in Japan the government was forced into the bidding.By late June Kurihara had grown worried that the sale could be tied up in Tokyo's local parliament or derailed by assessors He broke off talks with Ishihara's team with a curt message: "I decided to sell the islands to Japan."Government negotiators offered Kurihara the higher price and fast-tracked a deal that would have taken up to a year with a private-sector buyer.Kameda offered few details on the price saying that it reflected a calculation of what it would cost to "replace" the islands Officials declined requests by Reuters to see documents related to the valuation and sale.On September 11 Japan announced it had nationalised three of the Senkaku islands where a Communist Party Congress opened last week to put in place new leaders who will face the challenge of re-engaging with Japan."Japan should have pressed more for China to accept that the Senkaku are Japanese islands," Kurihara's brother and in May renewed a 20-year lease to the Defence Ministry Kubajima has been made available to the United States as a bombing range last used in 1978.Ishihara has told aides he wants to fund building projects on the islands That would strain ties with China further.Santo said she understood Kurihara's pursuit of the highest offer business considerations were the most important he is a real-estate broker," she said.($ = 80.1400 Japanese yen)Additional reporting by Junko Fukita and Kimiteru Tsuruta Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved