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November 28, 2024
 

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Michael Hoffman

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Michael Hoffman
Michael Hoffman is a fiction and nonfiction writer who has lived in Hokkaido by the sea almost as long as he can remember. He has been contributing regularly to The Japan Times for 10 years. His latest novel is "The Naked Ear" (VBW/Blackcover Books, 2012).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Feb 3, 2010
Shiya wo hirogeru: Time to broaden our horizons
Your son is a sainō no aru ko (才能のある子, a gifted boy)," Mr. Sawamura says. "His seiseki (成績, marks) are not impressive, and his social skills are perhaps not as developed as . . . "
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 10, 2010
First Snow
"Tamaki-kun! It's you, isn't it?" Startled, the man looked up from the book he'd been perusing. He stared at the woman in bewilderment. "Yes, my name is Tamaki . . . "
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Jan 6, 2010
The grateful outcast — feeling good to be needed
"You ask who I am? I'll tell you," I declaim, being a bit horoyoi kigen (ほろ酔い機嫌, tipsy). "I am the eternal nokemono（除者, outcast)!"
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 27, 2009
Thank God the year's over
History has seen worse years than 2009. All the same, this Year of the Ox has been more than most of us born after World War II in the relatively privileged regions of the Earth were conditioned to cope with.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Dec 2, 2009
Aki aki: fed up with Japan and seeking a new start
"Can I help you, young man?"
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Dec 2, 2009
Aki aki: fed up with Japan and seeking a new start
"Can I help you, young man?"
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Nov 4, 2009
Gokai: The more I know Japan, the thicker the fog
What a strange dream! The city was engulfed in a wave of random murders (musabetsu satsujin, 無差別殺人), and when my doorbell rang it was not the murderer (satsujinhan, 殺人犯), as I'd feared, but a high police official come to coax me out of retirement (taishoku, 退職) and put my detective...
LIFE
Oct 11, 2009
Fake names were to the fore in many a rise from humblest to highest
Here's a beguiling irony: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98), architect of Tokugawa Japan's rigid class structure and the author, in 1587, of a firm ban (not firmly enforced) on surnames for commoners, was himself born without a surname.
LIFE / Language
Oct 11, 2009
What's in a (Japanese) name?
"How do you do, my name is Saito Ichiro Sama-no-kami Minamoto-no-Ason Tadayoshi."
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 11, 2009
The long road to identity
A striking fact regarding modern Japanese surnames is their sheer number. There's no precise count, but the consensus is that there are more than 100,000.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Oct 7, 2009
Sometimes everything just seems to go wrong
"Well, uncle, what did you think of him?（Ano hito no koto dō omotta? あの人のことどう思った?)"
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Sep 2, 2009
Conservativism: hoshushugisha or hankakumeisha
"Professor Keyes, you're drunk (yopparatta, 酔っ払った)! Ha ha!"
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Aug 5, 2009
Heisei kids: a generation that struggles to dream
"Dad?"
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 12, 2009
Land of the Sun Goddess
The sun was mortally offended — with good reason.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Jul 1, 2009
Is boorish behavior a symptom of swine flu?
"Where's grandmother?" The little girl, just home from school, flings off her randoseru (ランドセル, school bag).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Jun 3, 2009
Back to basics: The choice of seihin or kinben
"You're up very late," says Reiko.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
May 6, 2009
A legal lesson: Taking on the (school) system
"Reiko, this is so unlike you! (Reiko-chan-rashikunai, レイコちゃんらしくない)."
LIFE
Apr 26, 2009
A literary loner
In Tokyo and even in the Occident, I have known almost no society except that of courtesans. — Nagai Kafu There's not much left of Kafu today. Among the major Japanese writers of the early 20th century, he scarcely ranks as a survivor. Natsume Soseki, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Junichiro Tanizaki are the...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Apr 1, 2009
Being a sukebe na sensei is tougher than it looks
"Why don't you get a divorce? (早く離婚したら, Hayaku rikon shitara?)."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Mar 4, 2009
Mothers-in-law: Our place or an ubasuteyama?
Wonderful, wonderful! Outside, the world as we know it is on the brink of collapse, but here in my study it is snug and warm; my books surround me, the coffee is hot and fresh . . .
Funeral held for Princess Yuriko at Tokyo cemetery
Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, followed by Princess Aiko and Princess Kako, prepare to attend a funeral service for Princess Yuriko at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
Suspected arson in Sapporo leaves four injured
Firetrucks outside a building in Sapporo where an explosion left four people injured on Tuesday.
Trump pledges 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and more levies on China
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19. Trump on Monday threatened to slap China, Mexico and Canada with hefty tariffs upon his return to the White House.
False report on Yasukuni Shrine visit 'extremely regrettable,' top spokesperson says
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
How Japan can exit the fossil fuel subsidies it can’t seem to quit
A man walks past a gasoline station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
Rayssa Leal and Chloe Covell on Japan’s teen skaters: We are friends, not rivals
Brazil’s Rayssa Leal celebrates after winning the women's Street League Skateboarding competition on Saturday in Tokyo.
An iconic 32-foot doughnut might give Randy’s an edge in Japan
Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, California. Replicas of the giant doughnut sculpture will be installed, where possible, at shops in Japan.

Podcast

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

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat
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