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April 11, 2025
 

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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).
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 14, 2010
In the land of the kami
"In some rural areas even today, elderly villagers face the rising sun each morning, clap their hands together, and hail the appearance of the sun over the peaks of the nearby mountains as 'the coming of the kami,' " — so wrote historian Takeshi Matsumae in "The Cambridge History of Japan," published...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 14, 2010
Symbols of heaven on Earth
There are about 80,000 torii-gated Shinto shrines in Japan, many of them unassuming little roadside structures at which, from time to time, you might see a passerby pause, briefly join his or her hands in prayer and move on, enriched and refreshed in ways an outsider can hardly presume to say.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 14, 2010
Buddhism's arrival, Shinto's endurance
In A.D. 552 (or 538 — experts disagree; some say it never happened) a Korean envoy presented himself at the Japanese court of Emperor Kimmei.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Mar 3, 2010
At times the job of a saibanin can be real murder
Reiko glances nervously about her. She's never been in a saibansho (裁判所, courthouse) before. The sixth floor, the yobidashijō (呼び出し状, summons) had said. She looks around for an elevator.
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.
Takayasu’s latest heartbreak makes sumo history
Takayasu during the one-day Annual Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Feb 9, 2020
Trump's tariff gambit leaves Asia stunned and scrambling
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on Tuesday. Trump allowed new tariffs — including a 24% levy on Japan — to go into effect as scheduled on Wednesday.
Tokyo cheers Trump’s tariff U-turn with second-biggest market gain ever
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday in Washington.
Banks freeze withdrawals for foreign nationals upon expiration of visas
Foreign residents who fail to renew their residential statuses before their expiry may find that they won’t be able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.
Japanese badminton ace Shida blasts 'stalker' Chinese fans
Chiharu Shida of Japan in action during the bronze medal match with Nami Matsuyama against Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah of Malaysia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France on Aug. 03, 2024
Who is Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariffs negotiator?
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has appointed Japan's tariff negotiator, is one of his closest allies and busiest ministers.
After a tumultuous buildup, a first look at the Osaka Expo
A large statue of Osaka Expo mascot Myaku Myaku sits near the east entrance of the event's venue in Yumeshima island, Osaka, on Wednesday.
Japan gets a new U.S. ambassador — and he has his work cut out for him
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Japan, attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 13.
Online art scene eager to go offline, at least for the moment
Digital artist Polygon1993 revels in the physicality of nostalgic technology, making art out of materials such as miniature CDs, holographic prints layered with plexiglass shards and a giant custom-made floppy disk.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.

Podcast

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

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
By Alex K.T. Martin

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