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November 22, 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).
CULTURE / Books
Apr 17, 2011
Shining a light on Korean sorrow in Japan
INTO THE LIGHT: An Anthology of Literature by Koreans in Japan. Edited by Melissa L. Wender. University of Hawai'i Press, 2011, 226 pp. $22 (paper) The eight stories in this anthology span nearly 60 years, from 1939, when Korea was a resentful and mutinous Japanese colony, to 1997, when South Korea was...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 10, 2011
'Kan the Destroyer' needs his fire back
In spring 1997, the American news magazine Time published a special issue titled "The New Japan." The subtitle was "A rising generation of risk-takers and rule-breakers is stirring the country from its slumber."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 6, 2011
In a catastrophe, chitsujo serves Japan well
Something so immense has befallen Japan that it almost defies contemplation, let alone expression. It is a watershed event, shattering lives and the ground they are lived on; challenging also one of the unspoken (and unproven) assumptions underlying civilized life — that konton (混沌, chaos) is the...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 3, 2011
Renewed national pride will shape Japan's future
Spring dawns on a shattered Japan. "Not since World War II" is a recurring phrase, and no wonder. Mass destruction accompanied by radiation — what other analogy is big enough?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 2, 2011
The language of revolution unspoken in Japan
Mohammed Bouazizi never lived to see the history he made. He was a Tunisian, young, educated and unemployed, and on Dec. 17, out of sheer rage and frustration, he set himself on fire. He died on Jan. 3. He was 26. Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, seiten no hekireki (晴天の霹靂, a bolt out of the blue,...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 27, 2011
Ditching materialism for the simple life
There's a new notion floating around. Perhaps you've heard of it: Danshari. Its three kanji characters signify, respectively, refusal, disposal and separation. Prosaically it means cleaning or tidying up, but there are psychological and religious dimensions, deriving in part from yoga, which suggest...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 20, 2011
The trouble with today's youth is nothing new
Here we go again. "Young people," frets Sapio magazine, "are rapidly becoming stupid." They can't read, can't calculate, can't communicate. They have no manners, no ambition, no interest in anything; no consideration for other people, no knowledge of world affairs. New technology enabling instant communication...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Feb 13, 2011
Japan's first pop culture
Pop culture. Japan's today is thriving, vibrant, spreading, turning people the world over into manga/anime freaks and costume players.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Feb 2, 2011
Can their young love survive the reality of life?
"Kimi to kekkon shitai (君と結婚したい, I want to marry you). Hontō ni (本当に, really)."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 30, 2011
The decline and fall of Japan and its sex drive
Only our descendants will know for sure, but we may be witnessing something not seen in the world since the slow demise of ancient Egypt — a nation expiring of natural causes. Nations, unlike people, are potentially immortal. When they die, it's usually violently. Japan may make history by its manner...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Jan 5, 2011
Dairokkan: sixth sense among the cedars
"When these sugi (杉, cedars) were umareta (生まれた, born), if that's the word," says Mayumi, "Japan was in its Jōmon Jidai (縄文時代, Jomon Period, c. 10,000 B.C.-c. 300 B.C.). Before bunmei (文明, civilization), before nōgyō (農業, agriculture), before sensō (戦争, war) — before...
JAPAN / Media
Dec 26, 2010
Somehow we survived a very explosive 2010
In April, much of the world ground to a halt.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 19, 2010
Marriage: A royal pain in the heart
Some outmoded institutions live on as anachronisms because enduring qualities in them continue to appeal to people. Royalty is one example. Marriage is another. Royal marriage? Well, naturally.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 5, 2010
Privacy is losing its very meaning
Words come and words go. Times change, language evolves.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Dec 1, 2010
Kako ni kampai — let's drink to the past!
"Omedetō, omedetō (おめでとう, congratulations)! A superb kōgi (講義, lecture)! Daiseikō (大成功, a rousing success!) Welcome back, Professor Keyes!"
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 21, 2010
Tossing our leaders to the lions
In Tokugawa days (1603-1867), criticizing the government was a capital offense. Rulers, not only in Japan but the world over, expected to be — and generally were — not only obeyed but revered, sometimes as gods, sometimes as beings only slightly less exalted. "God," wrote the French bishop and political...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 7, 2010
Freedom, friendship and love: a recipe for true happiness
The challenge to which this installment of "Big in Japan" seeks to rise is that of happiness. Is it possible, in these grim, sad, threatening times, to write a happy story without doing violence to journalistic relevance?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 3, 2010
Rikai dekiru: understanding the past, today
"Mina-san, konban wa (皆さん今晩は, ladies and gentlemen, good evening). Thank you, I . . .
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 24, 2010
Can we fix Japan's moral morass?
As a gauge of where this country is heading and what kind of mood it's in, consider this fact: Last week, almost every mainstream weekly news magazine ran at least one story on old age and/or death.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 17, 2010
Utopia means free money for everyone
Scientifically and technologically, the world is in flux bordering on chaos. Every day brings something new: a new discovery, a new device, a new technique, a new cure. The pace of change is dizzying; we scarcely know where we stand. Yesterday's novelty is today's norm, tomorrow's anachronism.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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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