author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 24, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Michael Hoffman

Meta

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 . . .
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Japan will spend ¥325 million in government funds on Princess Yuriko's funeral
Princess Yuriko waves during the New Year's public greeting at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2019.
MUFG fires worker over ¥2 billion theft from clients’ safe deposit boxes
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is investigating the incident and consulting with the police.
China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals
Beijing Daxing International Airport
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER