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November 22, 2024
 

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Stephen Mansfield

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Stephen Mansfield
Photojournalist and author Stephen Mansfield's work has appeared in over 70 publications worldwide, on subjects ranging from conflict in the Middle East to cultural analysis, interviews and book reviews. A longtime Japan Times contributor, his latest book is "Japan's Master Gardens: Lessons in Space & Environment."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 4, 2020
Healing from the horrors of war in ‘The Garden of Evening Mists’
Tan Twan Eng's evocative novel about loss, art and memory was shortlisted for a Man Booker Prize in 2012.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2020
‘The Story of a Single Woman’: A frank, unsentimental gaze at past loves
Chiyo Uno's semi-autobiographical novel captures the spirit of a woman unrestrained by social norms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2020
‘Pictures from the Water Trade: An Englishman in Japan’ review: Unveiling Tokyo with a memoir in disguise
Published in 1985, John David Morley's “Pictures from the Water Trade” foreshadowed contemporary methods and approaches to travel writing about Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2020
‘Peaceful Circumstances’: Negotiating relationships in a time of war
Roger Pulvers' “Peaceful Circumstances” is a coming-of-age novel about a young woman at a time when the world is rapidly unraveling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2020
The suspended traveler’s reading list
Travel writing can change your life, or at least nudge it in a different direction. In these troubled times, it can also console and inspire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 2, 2020
'The Book of Tea' review: Tea ceremony and all its complex subtleties
A.L. Sadler examines in minute detail the origins of tea drinking and the rich and complex components of its ritualization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 25, 2020
Where we want to go in Japan once this is all over
COVID-19 has put a pause on travel, but that doesn't mean we can't plan. The Japan Times' Escape page regulars write about where they want to go in Japan once we see the back of COVID-19.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 7, 2020
Altered perspectives: The 'interactive' Okinawan garden
If Japanese landscape gardeners looked toward mountains and river valleys for inspiration in creating the rock arrangements that form the power grids of their gardens, infusing natural elements with Taoist and Buddhist principles, it is likely that Okinawans cast their eyes over the seas that surround...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 22, 2020
'Tokyo Sketches: Short Stories': A tribute to an ever-changing city
Journalist Pete Hamill's anthology of 13 Tokyo-based stories bring a cast of multicultural characters, united by their lives in the metropolis, to life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 1, 2020
'Untangling my Chopsticks': Searching for the origins of Japanese fine dining
Engagingly written and well-researched, Victoria Abbott Riccardi's culinary memoir, 'Untangling My Chopsticks,' traces her year immersed in Kyoto's kaiseki culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2020
Surrendering to a hot-spring package tour in snowy Yunishigawa
Winter is a fine time to visit Yunishigawa. The months from December to the first week of March sees the enchanting Kamakura Festival, when hundreds of kamakura (snow huts) are constructed along the Yunishigawa river, in forest recesses and in the precincts of temples and shrines.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 11, 2020
'Childhood Years': Junichiro Tanizaki's precious memories of Tokyo
Autobiographies tend to reveal only as much as the subject chooses to share. Here, Junichiro Tanizaki is surprisingly forthright in detailing his inner life, especially those pertaining to the germination of his sexuality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 21, 2019
'The Pine Islands': No ordinary death is enough for two misfit souls
Marion Poschmann's 'The Pine Islands' follows two haunted travelers on their journey across Japan, guided by the poems of Matsuo Basho.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 14, 2019
'A Mature Woman': The truth squares off against corrupt Japanese establishments
Saiichi Maruya's 'A Mature Woman' takes on misogyny, power harassment and corruption with a witty, satirical touch.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 23, 2019
Miyagi's kitchen: Country banquets, Okinawan-style
At Minshuku Miyagi, no two family-style meals are ever the same, but self-taught chef Masashi Miyagi is guaranteed to whip up innovative Okinawan dishes for his guests.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Sep 21, 2019
Signs of life: Urban renewal in Nakamachi
The oldest surviving quarter of Toba, Mie Prefecture, pins its hopes on crafts and small businesses to stay afloat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 7, 2019
A literary platform for the collected writers of Kyoto
Writers in Kyoto is an English-language literary salon formed by writer John Dougill in 2015 to create a 'sense of community' for writers connected to Japan's imperial capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2019
Gujo-Hachiman: Travel along the rivers of time
Perhaps it is the gurgling brooks that feed the town's roadside culverts, the colorful, vaguely Pyrenean window boxes, or the friendly, natural disposition of the locals — Gujo-Hachiman seems a place where people's spirits are pitched a notch or two higher than elsewhere.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 3, 2019
'Mishima: A Vision of the Void': Remembering a literary giant as he would have wanted
Marguerite Yourcenar's literary biography of Yukio Mishima delves into the enigmatic author as well as the social conditions that shaped his rise and fall.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 27, 2019
Naha restaurants carry on the legacy of Okinawa court cuisine
The pleasures of the common Okinawan table are indisputable, but at restaurants like Ryukyu Cuisine Mie or Sui Dunchi guests can experience kyu016btei ryu014dri (court cuisine) created in the spirit of a cherished culinary art.
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.

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