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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."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 12, 2009
Finding much more to explore in Japan
If you are unsure whether Kinki lies to the east or west of Chugoku, what the principal city of Kagawa is, or which prefectures are landlocked — rest assured that you are not alone. If we have one failing in common, it is geography.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 28, 2009
Making cycling trips cultural experiences
Among the thin crop of books on cycling in Japan are Josie Dew's hilarious account in "A Ride in the Neon Sun," of her trip from Tokyo to the edges of Okinawa and the extraordinary people and hospitality met. Then there is Leigh Norrie's more recent "Japan: 6,000 Miles on a Bicycle," an engaging account...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2009
Finding hope in the meaning of numbers
The beauty of figures plucked from an infinite numerical pool forms part of the theme of Yoko Ogawa's novel, which is also a celebration of an improbable friendship.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 7, 2009
Illuminating flashes of China's fictive light
Divided into thematic segments such as Portraits, Relationships, Family and Existential Moments, more than a hundred writers are represented in this stubby new collection from China.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 29, 2009
Searching for a sense of 'home'
The first I knew of the actress Ri Koran, otherwise known as Yoshiko Yamaguchi, was in 1985, while staying in a grubby hotel in Beirut. An old face-cream advertisement for the cosmetic company Shiseido had been tacked onto the bedroom wall. The image showed a woman with jade earrings dressed in a silk...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 29, 2009
Searching for a sense of 'home'
THE CHINA LOVER by Ian Buruma. The Penguin Press, 2008, 392 pp., $26.95 (cloth) The first I knew of the actress Ri Koran, otherwise known as Yoshiko Yamaguchi, was in 1985, while staying in a grubby hotel in Beirut. An old face-cream advertisement for the cosmetic company Shiseido had been tacked onto...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 15, 2009
The meaning of life through its purpose
When it comes to religion, there are two types of rational minds: those who believe that faith is all smoke and mirrors, and those who, though rejecting that which is miraculous or supposition, see in the teachings of prophets, saints and other holy figures, incomparably valuable kernels of truth.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 1, 2009
Yearning for the golden Showa days
An American friend once described the conflict between his desire to leave Japan and his inability to rouse himself to do so by saying that living here was akin to soaking in a warm bath. For many people, soaking in the nostalgia of the Showa Era is a little like that.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2009
A collection from Tokyo's nests of creativity
More "like a machine than a city" is how Paul Theroux recently characterized Tokyo, a city many of us see as a breeding tank for creativity. True, the more subtle voices of the megalopolis are often drowned out in the din, but this is where artists can help, by adding warmth, depth and texture. Among...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / BEST OF BOOKS: 2008
Dec 14, 2008
Ready for a little Yuletide reading?
YOJOKUN: Life Lessons From a Samurai, by Kaibara Ekiken (Kodansha International)
CULTURE / Books
Dec 7, 2008
A bend in time, disengagement and the life of the mind
BIRNBAUM: A Novel of Inner Space, by Michael Hoffman. Printed Matter Press, 2008, 321 pp., ¥2,000 (paper) In writing about the process involved in the creation of this novel, Michael Hoffman observed that "Often as I wrote, I had no idea where this was going." This sounds a little like the literary...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 19, 2008
Paul Theroux backtracks through the world
GHOST TRAIN TO THE EASTERN STAR: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar, by Paul Theroux. Hamish Hamilton, 2008, 496 pp., £20 (cloth) Books about traveling in other people's footsteps are commonplace. We have Lesley Downer's "On the Road to the Deep North" and Patrick Symmes' motorbike journey through...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008
Fiery romance raging in the tumult of war
BESIDE A BURNING SEA by John Shors. New American Library, 2008, 424 pp., $14 (paper) Although most history now is of the revisionist kind, the public still dwells in the past, comfortable with its standard accounting. Little attention is paid to the correction of received fictions. History, as they say,...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 17, 2008
Avoiding flat tires
JAPAN: 6,000 Miles on a Bicycle, by Leigh Norrie. Printed Matter Press, 2008, 229 pp., ¥2,000 (paper) The worst account of a bicycle trip ever written about must surely be Bernard Magnouloux's "Travels with Rosinante," a five-year, 199-puncture journey around the world, in which the author struggled...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 8, 2008
Sordid scenes from a dark, cracked city
AUTO FICTION by Hitomi Kanehara. Vintage Books, 2008, 216 pp., £6.99 (paper) The writer of the notes to "Auto Fiction" is at pains to tell us how Hitomi Kanehara stopped attending school at age 11, then, as a teenager, left home. As with other young women writers who have made waves for novels set in...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 27, 2008
Reprising the identity of Vietnam's Mieu
AMBIGUITY OF IDENTITY: The Mieu in Vietnam, by Nguyen Van Thang. Silkworm Books, 2007, 206 pp., 595 bahts (paper) Modern states dominate the lives of minorities to an extent never experienced before. As the lines between respective ethnicities blur under pressures to change and assimilate into the mainstream,...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 3, 2008
Journal of an uncommon traveler
WINDOWS ON JAPAN: A Walk Through Place and Perception, by Bruce Roscoe. Algora Publishing, 2007, 308 pp., $31.95 (paper) On the premise that speed blunts the mind, New Zealander Bruce Roscoe decided to make his journey on foot, following a route across the waist of Japan, from the port city of Niigata...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 2007
Need something to read in the new year?
SHADOW OF THE SILK ROAD, by Colin Thubron (HarperCollins)
CULTURE / Books
Nov 25, 2007
Tales of Meiji love, lust and drinking tea
Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse by Matsutaro Kawaguchi. Tuttle Publishing, 280 pp., 2007, ¥1,785 (paper) During the middle to late years of the Meiji Era, factories, cement works and commercial shipyards began to spring up like noxious mushrooms along the embankments of Tokyo's Sumida...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 11, 2007
Trapped between borders
Frontier Mosaic: Voices of Burma from the Lands In Between, by Richard Humphries. Orchid Press, 2007, 180 pp., $29.95 (paper) "A man on a motorbike comes by and we then follow him through the streets of Mae Sot." So begins one of the narrative vignettes from "Frontier Mosaic." Based on extensive travel...
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.
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By Kathryn Wortley

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