Mami Maruko - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Meta

Mami Maruko

Staff writer Mami Maruko writes stories about the international community in Japan, including profiles of Tokyo-based ambassadors and international marriages. She received education in Japan, England and the U.S. She graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London, with a masters degree in Theater Arts.

Japan Times

Events / WHERE IT'S AT

Aug 10, 2010

Annual Yokosuka Navy Friendship Day draws 60,000

Fireworks, pizza and smoothies make a hot and humid summer day more endurable and enjoyable. With the temperature skyrocketing past 30 degrees, the 34th Annual Navy Friendship Day, an open house event of the U.S. Yokosuka Naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture, saw almost 60,000 visitors Saturday.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO

Jul 27, 2010

One man's cup of tea equals a career

"Irasshaimase, dozo! (Welcome to the shop. Please have a look around!)" The high-spirited, delightful voice of a tall Frenchman echoes in the Shinjuku branch of Maruyamaen, a long-established Japanese tea shop.

JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES

Jul 20, 2010

Pair get more than fluency from language swap lessons

Guillermo Larese roia, 42, from Argentina, and Keiko Iwasaki, 31, met a decade ago in Japan after one of them put a message about swapping Japanese and Spanish lessons in a free publication.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO

Jul 13, 2010

Veteran teacher finds his own way

Paul del Rosario was flabbergasted when he was reprimanded for being too loud at a language school where he was teaching English, and had to confront a Japanese boss there. The boss came to him and said, "Maybe it's a good idea not to talk so much (with other teachers between classes)."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jun 15, 2010

Social change architect starts young

At first glance, it is hard to guess that such a soft-spoken, refined, slim gentleman with a serene smile is an energetic and charismatic leader who has given financial and mental support to more than 2,000 "social entrepreneurs" around the world. But once Bill Drayton starts talking, you can immediately...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Mar 9, 2003

Sandwich bars spread thick and fast

Can two slices of bread with a filling in between take on a box full of bite-size eats?

CULTURE / Music

May 26, 2002

And with a wave of his wand . . .

As cofounder and artistic director of the Asian Youth Orchestra, Richard Pontzious says one of his greatest delights is providing talented youngsters with an experience that might become the most significant musical memory of their lives.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

May 26, 2002

Marketing message in a bottle

Wherever you go, wherever you look, shelves are stacked with it, vending machines are loaded with it and people are toting it in their burando bags and natty knapsacks. And that's not to mention all those billboards, magazine ads and TV spots keeping green tea up close and personal to residents of these...

Japan Times

LIFE / Language

May 17, 2002

Dinosaurs walking the earth once more

A full-length model of the skeletal structure of the seismosaurus will make its world debut at "The Greatest Dinosaur Expo 2002" to be held this summer at Makuhari Messe in Chiba.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

May 15, 2002

Just a word in your ear

A visitor to "Sesshu -- Master of Ink and Brush" at the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno, stops in front of one of the paintings. She has just been told to do so by the audio guide she's holding in her hand, which then launches into a detailed explanation of the painting's historical background and notable...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

May 5, 2002

Something for the little people

When it comes to the media, children haven't really been given much scope for expression. There are television programs and magazines designed for kids, but very few in which the target audience is also a part of the creation process. Some people want to change that.

LIFE / Language

May 3, 2002

Never too young to start making a difference

You don't have to wait until you're grown up to be counted. In fact, if you're between 10 and 12 years old, you're the perfect age to take part in the International Children's Conference on the Environment. And to start thinking of how to preserve and improve the world that you are living in.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Apr 24, 2002

U.S. collection takes a trip home

What is a Japanese art collection doing in the middle of a farm in California?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Apr 3, 2002

Painting our inheritance

Traveling to 46 World Heritage cities in 18 countries is impressive enough on its own, but painting them is another thing entirely. Yet, Ecuador's noted contemporary painter Oswaldo Munoz Marino has done just that.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Mar 13, 2002

An adopted son of the circus

It was a small advertisement in the paper that led Koichi Yano to one of Canada's leading circus companies, Montreal-based Cirque Eloize. It was 1996, he was in Canada helping his sister settle in and was still under the spell of a recent performance by renowned circus company Cirque du Soleil, also...

COMMUNITY

Feb 24, 2002

Overseas and under pressure

For people moving to a foreign country, the simplest daily activities can become a nightmare.

COMMUNITY

Jan 27, 2002

Slimming products make weighty claims

Some people -- generally women -- will do anything to lose weight. Slimming products range from the bizarre to the outright absurd -- from balloons that claim to raise your body temperature and burn calories when you inflate them, to rubber suction cups that promise to shrink that double chin or expunge...

COMMUNITY

Dec 23, 2001

Jewelry collectors: guardians of a glittering past

At first glance, the visitor would hardly guess that the austere-looking building nestled in the beautiful, green mountains of Nasu Kogen, Tochigi Prefecture, is the Akiba Museum of Antique Jewellery -- Japan's first private museum specializing in European antique jewelry.

COMMUNITY

Nov 25, 2001

Key insight spells riches for Hollywood nail care magnate

All it took for a small dental supply business to become the world's largest independent manufacturer of nail products was one man's realization that some of his biggest buyers of dental acrylics weren't dentists at all they were manicurists.

COMMUNITY

Nov 18, 2001

Universal fashion: One design fits all

Everyone knows how hard it is to find clothes that fit, but imagine how much harder it would be if you had special needs. If you were a wheelchair-user looking for pants with gathers at the knees, or a frail senior looking for a blouse with easy-to-detach buttons, chances are you wouldn't find them easily...

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports