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July 16, 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.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 20, 2009
Ramen memoir goes down easy
THE RAMEN KING AND I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life, by Andy Raskin. Gotham, 2009, 293 pp., $26 (hardcover) "The year I was a student at International Christian University . . . Japan's automated-teller machines were open only during regular bank hours — weekdays from...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2009
Kawasaki's Nihon Minkaen: Traditional folklore in a natural setting
In an article last May 10 introducing the many attractions of Tokyo's neighbor Kawasaki, this writer made a brief reference to the Nihon Minkaen (The Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum) in Tama Ward.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2009
Kawasaki's Nihon Minkaen: Traditional folklore in a natural setting
In an article last May 10 introducing the many attractions of Tokyo's neighbor Kawasaki, this writer made a brief reference to the Nihon Minkaen (The Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum) in Tama Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2009
Afghan gang turns N.Y. into a battlefield
John Rambo, Harry Bosch, Elvis Cole's partner Joe Pike and other veterans of the Vietnam War era — who have served hard-boiled fiction so well over the past three decades — are getting too old for the sort of mayhem their authors would have them perform.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 9, 2009
Sampling a pot-sticker paradise
Whenever I watch national broadcaster NHK's weather forecast, I feel consoled that no matter how hot it may get in July and August in Tokyo, the mercury in Utsunomiya is always going to be several degrees higher.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 22, 2009
The world's best one-stop shop for Nihongo
"The number of people learning Japanese has increased and is currently estimated to be more than 3 million worldwide," says Nobuyuki Suzuki, deputy manager of a very special store in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 19, 2009
We all live in a 'yellow peril' submarine
This 454-page thriller, written in the time frame between the outbreak of SARS and swine influenza, puts a new twist on biological warfare. Indeed, what if an insidious crime syndicate were to infiltrate medical research and then, seeking huge profits, practice extortion on a worldwide scale?
CULTURE / Books
Jun 21, 2009
Eleventh-century lord cracks Kyoto crimes in the worst of times
In Shamus Award-winning mystery author's I.J. Parker's previous work, "Island of Exiles," Heian Period (794-1185) official Sugawara Akitada embarked on a harrowing undercover investigation of a suspicious death on Sado Island. Assuming the guise of a convict, the scholarly Akitada soon found himself...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 27, 2009
Appreciating kanji can unleash your inner art critic
As exotic as kanji (Sino-Japanese logographs) may appear to the uninitiated, most of those we encounter in everyday situations are intended to convey notices and other mundane or essential information, such as 禁煙 kin'en (no smoking) or 駅長室 (ekichō-shitsu, stationmaster's office).
CULTURE / Books
May 17, 2009
Rattling skeletons in China's political closet
A famous Chinese aphorism goes, "Yingxiong nan guo meiren guan (It is difficult for a hero to pass by [i.e. disregard] the gate of a beauty)."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 10, 2009
Kawasaki risen from the grit with plenty to offer
Back in December 1972, having just taken a job with a Japan Airlines subsidiary, I moved into the company's bachelors dormitory at Miyauchi 2-chome in Kawasaki's Nakahara Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 26, 2009
North Korea: Even facts read like fiction
During the shooting of the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film "The Big Sleep" — a noir movie notorious for its convoluted plot — director Howard Hawks cabled Raymond Chandler, author of the book on which the screenplay was based, to ask if Owen Taylor, the chauffeur, was murdered or committed suicide....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 5, 2009
Gates, gardens and . . . war
"Ohayoooo gozaimasu!" I greeted my 22-year-old nephew, Chris, using my foot to nudge him awake on the first morning of his 10-day visit to Japan. "What do you say we walk around Ginza?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 25, 2009
Brush up your Japanese the traditional way
Last week, I suggested that if you're really serious about mastering kanji, you should add brush calligraphy to your study regimen.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 22, 2009
Tale of a fallen woman and other intrigues
Since his literary debut in 1992, Vincent "Vinnie" Calvino, an expat Italian-Jewish attorney from New York, has been pursuing investigations on behalf of mostly foreign clients in Bangkok.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 18, 2009
Calligraphy still holds the key to mastering kanji
I recently encountered a new term that's a real mouthful: IT依存性漢字健忘症 (IT izonsei kanji kenbōshō, kanji amnesia due to dependence on information technology). The word acknowledges that the proliferation of word processors has weakened people's ability to recall both individual...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2009
Riveting guitar saga tugs at the heartstrings
In the summer of 1975, Spain's 82-year-old leader Francisco Franco is fading fast. Spain's underground radical groups are determined to tarnish El Caudillo's legacy and, if possible, alter the direction of Spain's future.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 21, 2009
The key words that kept Japan abuzz in 2008
Last October, publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha released the 61st edition of its "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words)" — a massive 1,614-page tome that retails for just ¥2,980. I have a facsimile copy of the book's first edition, launched on Oct. 10, 1948. In the introduction,...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 21, 2009
The key words that kept Japan abuzz in 2008
Last October, publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha released the 61st edition of its "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words)" — a massive 1,614-page tome that retails for just ¥2,980. I have a facsimile copy of the book's first edition, launched on Oct. 10, 1948. In the introduction,...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009
In love with China: from forbidden fruits to futile fantasies
CHINA DREAMS by Sid Smith. London: Picador, 2008, 183 pp., £7.99 (paper)
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
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Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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