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November 22, 2024
 

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Mark Schreiber

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Mark Schreiber
Mark Schreiber worked as a salaryman in travel, consumer electronics, computer software, advertising and market research before turning to translation and writing full time. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has lived in Tokyo since 1966.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 6, 2012
Weeklies take a look at faiths, (misplaced) hopes and charities
Which religious groups were most successful in raising funds for earthquake victims in the devastated parts of Tohoku? In its Golden Week double issue, Flash (May 8-15) ran an article about the heretofore unreported nexus between last year's disaster and religion. The most generous donor by far, which...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 23, 2012
For a challenge guess unknown kanji
A mastery of written Japanese comes not through rote memorization, but by developing your inductive reasoning so as to nurture a "kanji-oriented thought process."
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2012
Past and present on Route 66
"Ah, there's nothing like a Polish sausage smothered with jalapenos to settle a queasy stomach," I said to my skeptical traveling companion Bob Allen, adding a squirt of mustard for good luck and taking a humongous bite.
LIFE
Apr 22, 2012
Fascinating facts along the way
One of the original long-distance paved U.S. Highways, Route 66 always had about it an aura of romance born of wide-open horizons and travel on it that spanned not just a country, but a continent.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 22, 2012
Espionage and mystery in modern-day China
Don't Cry Tai Lake, by Qiu Xiaolong. St. Martin's Minotaur, 2012, 272 pp., $24.99 (hardcover) An American Spy, by Olen Steinhauer. St. Martin's Minotaur, 2012, 400 pp., $25.99 (hardcover) Qiu Xiaolong's mystery novels, featuring Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department, have largely...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 15, 2012
Are women really on the ascendancy as some media proclaim?
'Joshi bakari ga naze tsuyoi?" ("Why is it that only women are strong?") asks Aera (Mar. 26). The question may be a valid one, at least when limited to international sports events, where Japan's women over the past several years have been outshining their male counterparts as they excel in soccer, women's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 1, 2012
Sky Tree to offer world's highest bungee jump
Tokyo's newest and biggest visitor attraction, the 634-meter-high Tokyo Sky Tree in Sumida Ward, will open to the public on May 22. And if 11th-hour contract negotiations bear fruit, visitors to the Sky Tree may soon have the opportunity to plummet 430 meters (over 1,400 feet) toward terra firma, in...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 19, 2012
Excuse me, but aren't you so-and-so's whatchamacallit?
According to a dispatch by the French news agency AFP, France on Feb. 21 officially banished use of the term Mademoiselle when referring to unmarried women. Henceforth, Madame will be used irrespective of marital status.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 18, 2012
Yu Darvish under the magnifying glass
Barring a major natural catastrophe, war or government upheaval, the vernacular news headlines for the next several months are almost certain to be dominated by baseball. Specifically, former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler, Yu Darvish, who on April 8 is scheduled take the mound in his first start for the...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 18, 2012
Lucky Dragon's lethal catch
At just over 25 meters from stem to stern, and 140 tons, the wooden long-line tuna-fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (No. 5 Lucky Dragon) is hardly imposing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 4, 2012
Anti-yakuza laws are taking their toll
Five months after tough new ordinances cracking down on the activities of organized crime syndicates went into effect, it's not yet clear what impact, if any, they've had on gang activities.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 27, 2012
The first rule of writing ate-ji: There are no rules
As a general rule, kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) are classified in dictionaries according to two readings: kun-yomi (native Japanese) and on-yomi (approximation of the original Chinese pronunciation). For example, 東, the tō in 東京 (Tokyo), meaning "east," is an on-yomi that came from the Chinese...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 19, 2012
Media ratchets up fear of another major earthquake
So called megathrust earthquakes such as the one that struck off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture on March 11, 2011, tend to occur in pairs, with a relatively short gap between them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 29, 2012
Gallant cop, reporter on quest hit right notes
RED JADE, by Henry Chang. Soho Press, 2011, 248 pp., $14 (paper) KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT, by Colin Cotterill. Minotaur, 2011, 374 pages, $24.99 (hardcover) It is pleasing to note that among the growing number of Asian-Americans producing works of fiction are authors who specialize in stories of crime...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 23, 2012
It's Murphy's Law if you don't get the joke in Japanese
If you miss the punch line to a Japanese joke, don't feel bad. It's simply unrealistic to use something as elusive as humor to measure your ability to understand a foreign language.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 15, 2012
'Made in Japan' label under assault
Take a stroll through home sweet home. You'll almost certainly see an entertainment system, refrigerator, microwave oven, rice cooker, toaster, mixer/blender, vacuum cleaner, heater/air conditioner, hair dryer, electric blanket and so on. From personal hygiene to food preparation to recreation and entertainment,...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 1, 2012
Japan's troubled royals put up a brave front
Bungei Shunju ("literary spring and autumn") is arguably Japan's most prestigious monthly magazine. Emblazoned in celebratory red across the cover of its New Year's edition is the rather ominous headline, "The Day the Heisei (Era) Ends."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 26, 2011
A look back at the buzzwords and street slang of 2011
On Dec. 1, publisher Jiyukokumin-sha announced that the winner of its annual 流行語大賞 (ryūkōgo taishō, buzzword grand prix) for 2011 was 撫子ジャパン (Nadeshiko Japan). This of course is the name of the winners of the Women's Soccer World Cup held last June-July, and you can hardly blame...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011
Crime, war, and laughs unintended
Bill James, a well-known baseball authority, deviates from sport coverage to introduce some of America's most celebrated true crime cases in "Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 18, 2011
The times may change, but the hits keep coming
The 46th year of Showa, 1971, is remembered as the year of the "Nixon Shock," when the U.S. president took unilateral action to raise the Japanese yen's value against the dollar — from ¥360 to $1, to around ¥308 to $1. Nixon sought to reduce the swelling trade deficit by action aimed at forcing up...
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
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

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