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November 22, 2024
 

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Mark Buckton

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Mark Buckton
Mark Buckton has covered sumo for The Japan Times Online since 2006 and has long worked with broadcast media such as the BBC and CNN when things go awry in the sport. He has contributed to six books on Japanese culture, and is a columnist at entertainment magazine Eye-Ai.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 15, 2014
Tokyo: What's the strangest thing you've seen in a vending machine?
From melon to books, eggs and stewed morsels, interviewees around Tokyo share their most wonderfully weird vending machine encounters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 13, 2014
A hard day's grind for porn's professionals
A day on set with Akira Takatsuki, arguably Japan's most famous porn director in the subgenre revolving around well-endowed female talent, and AV stars Shiori Tsukada and Mumin reveals a world of work like any other — except for the sex stuff.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 12, 2014
Hatsu 2014: Now or never for Kisenosato
When he first shot through the ranks in the mid 2000s, more than a few fans and commentators had Kisenosato penciled in as a future yokozuna.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 8, 2014
Has Abenomics improved things for you or the country over the past year?
I can't really say that things have improved for the country as I don't often have the chance to follow politics. But, based on what I feel about my family, things have improved in the last year. I'm not sure if it's because of Abenomics, but some things have changed for the better.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 18, 2013
Tokyo: If you could be prime minister for a day, what would you do?
Top concerns for would-be PMs around the metropolis: Fukushima, demographics, women in the workplace, the consumption tax, education, energy, English — and beer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 11, 2013
Tokyo: Where do you get your news fix from?
NHK, The Japan Times, 2channel, Nihon TV . . . Fox? Tokyoites look to a wide range of sources to sate their thirst for news.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 2, 2013
Tokyo: What do you think of Japan's national broadcaster, NHK?
Beloved voice of the nation or loathed drain on household finances? Vox pops from around the capital suggest a bit of both.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 2, 2013
Little-man sumo pays off for Harumafuji
It was without doubt one of the most disappointing yokozuna-yokozuna bouts in recent years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 20, 2013
Tokyo: Could — and should — mass immigration save shrinking Japan?
A path to a prosperous, innovative society or the multicultural road to ruin for Japan? Vote here to have your voice heard.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 13, 2013
Tokyo: What does Japan do better than anywhere else?
Everyone here in Japan, or in Tokyo at least, is so disciplined and always punctual. The Japanese people I have met stick by their comments and the promises they make, and in my experience excuses are not accepted as much as they might be elsewhere.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 8, 2013
Kyushu Basho 2013 – a tale of two newbies
In Japanese sporting circles, mention of the name Endo has, for the past few years, come with images of national soccer team and Gamba Osaka player Yasuhito Endo. All that is about to change.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 30, 2013
While Hakuho chalks up another victory, Harumafuji's future grows less certain
And then there were 27 — little replicas of the Emperor's Cup atop the yokozuna's mantelpiece that is.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 30, 2013
Tokyo: How do you feel about the capital hosting the 2020 Olympics?
Enthusiasm tinged with ambivalence greets the news that the city has been chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics — at least among this unscientific sample of Tokyoites.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 23, 2013
Tokyo: What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Is it a bird? Is it a Pacific islander? Tokyoites tackle the big existential question: What do you want to be in your next life
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 14, 2013
As Baruto heads out and Kisenosato aims upward, Hiroshima is one to watch
In the runup to the Sept. 15u201329 Aki Basho sumo headlines have been dominated by the decision of former ozeki Baruto of Onoe Beya to call time on a nine year career peppered by injuries, and containing brief but highly memorable flashes of brilliance.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 10, 2013
Is sumo’s lost decade finally coming to an end?
Many long-time sumo fans trace the origins of the decline of sumo in the modern era back to a decision made in January 2003 by Takanohana to call it quits and hang up his mawashi.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 9, 2013
Tokyo: Have you ever had any trouble with immigration in Japan?
Tokyo residents share their stories about their dealings with Japan's Immigration Bureau on entry, exit and at visa-renewal time
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 2, 2013
Tokyo: How would you describe Roppongi in one word?
'Roadworks.' When I was a lot younger I went there, and I don't have a great memory of that time because it was all roadworks, everywhere you look. And later, when a little older, when I went into bars I was just scared and don't remember much.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Aug 26, 2013
Tokyo: How much TV do you watch each week, and what do you watch?
Tomomi MizoguchiBar staff, 38 (Japanese)I watch around 20 hours of TV each week, which may be high, because I like to watch TV dramas such as "Kodoku no Gurume," broadcast on Wednesdays, which is about a salaryman looking for good restaurants to eat in. I like shows in which I see people eating a lot....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 12, 2013
Tokyo: If today was your last day on Earth, what on Earth would you do?
I would do as I always do — no real changes for me. I would stay home or go to work, to sleep — same as always, except perhaps for one thing: I always take one hour to get home after finishing work, but if it was my last day on Earth, I would take two.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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