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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 15, 2014
Buzzwords of 2014: from killer drugs to robotic refusals
Once again, the massive reference book 「現代用語の基礎知識」("Gendai Yōgo no Kiso Chishiki," "The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words") is on sale. This annual publication that tracks additions to, and changes in, the Japanese language and various world developments over the previous year...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 6, 2014
Poverty takes on a new look in today's Japan
In the early years of the 21st century, such neologisms as nyū puā (new poor) and wākingu puā (working poor) began appearing in the Japanese media. Like their equivalents overseas, the terms were typically applied to people unable to realize a decent livelihood while holding down a job, or even more...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 17, 2014
Double up on your kanji to avoid homonym mixups
Although the Japanese and Chinese languages differ considerably in their syntax and pronunciation, one characteristic they share, along with use of kanji, is lots of homonyms. Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary, for example, lists 70 characters with the pronunciation shih (or shi, when transcribed in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 15, 2014
Creative crooks stay one step ahead
The "Ore, ore" ("It's me") fraudsters and their ilk, who telephone elderly people and pretend to be a relative in need of money to help them out of a jam, keep coming up with new scams.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 1, 2014
Media whips up fuss over S&M bar claim
First came what the tabloids referred to as "W-jinin," the resignations of two female Cabinet members — Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima — on the same day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 25, 2014
Perfidia
This sprawling period piece from the prolific author of such works as "L.A. Confidential" and "The Black Dalia" takes place in Los Angeles and environs between Dec. 5 and 29, 1941. Central to the plot are the enigmatic slayings of a Japanese family of four in the suburb of Highland Park on the eve of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2014
Subtle humor of haiku's cousin senryū is on a roll
"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit," philosophizes the long-winded Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." That's also a fitting description of senryū — a form of short poetry defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a three-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku, but...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 18, 2014
The sinking yen is a threat to the cost of living
If the items you purchase these days seem more expensive, you're not imagining things.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 4, 2014
Unburdening oneself of life's possessions
Japanese often cite an old aphorism that goes, "Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu" ("It is a foolish bird that defiles its own nest"). This can be taken to mean that a departing person should not leave behind a mess.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 4, 2014
Confessions
The award-winning 1950 Akira Kurosawa film classic "Rashomon," based on two short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, used different and contradictory accounts of a samurai's death to explore humanity's self-serving behavior. Kanae Minato's first novel, "Confessions," adopts a somewhat similar approach,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 27, 2014
Shinkansen at 50: fast track to the future
On the 50th anniversary of the iconic bullet train's inaugural run, we examine how developers turned an ambitious dream into a high-tech reality
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 22, 2014
A peculiar perspective on the capricious word hen
One major event in Japan's 16th-century civil war — which is the focus of "Gunshi Kanbei (Strategist Kanbei)," NHK's current Sunday-night drama series — involves the duplicitous warlord Akechi Mitsuhide.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 20, 2014
Tabloids voice alarm over dengue surge
The first case of dengue fever was reported on Aug. 27. As of Friday, the number had increased to 141 people in 17 prefectures — not one of whom had traveled abroad. If the asymptotic or unreported cases are included, it's quite possible that figure may be two or threefold.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 6, 2014
Line fends off fury ahead of lucrative IPO
"What's so exasperating for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ... is the current situation in that platforms, terminals and apps have become dominated by foreign entities," remarked an unnamed writer for a trade publication. "The ministries...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 6, 2014
Veteran Tokyo editor turns his mind to crime
"Japan has her secrets, as you well know," a Kyoto art dealer named Takahashi tells American Jim Brodie. "Many are open secrets. We Japanese are aware of them, are ashamed of them, and don't speak of them often, if ever. Our embarrassing moments remain, for the most part, confined to these shores. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 16, 2014
Grisly Sasebo murder defies explanation
Homicides involving dismemberment, referred to in Japanese as bara-bara jiken (scattered incidents), fall into a wider category known as ryōki hanzai (bizarre crimes) — written with kanji meaning "hunting the strange." Typically when minors were involved in such cases they tended to be victims, not...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 9, 2014
The Crane Pavilion
The 12th full-length novel by German-born author I.J. Parker to feature crime-solving government official Sugawara Akitada, "The Crane Pavilion" takes place in Kyoto in the latter part of the Heian Period (794-1185).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 4, 2014
Scanning headlines for business clues
Before we had the Internet, much of the work that has now been taken over by Google and other search engines was done, the old-fashioned way, by poring over secondary sources such as newspapers and magazines.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 2, 2014
Hot in the city: scorching Kumagaya
Exploring new ways of dealing with the heat from a city in Saitama that certainly knows a thing or two about keeping cool
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 2, 2014
Fast-food follies have media in a frenzy
Almost exactly a year ago (on July 27, 2013), this column reported on how the print media was inundated with concerns over the safety of foods from abroad. Among the sources cited was Takarajima magazine, which quoted a foodstuffs importer as saying, "The decline of morals due to the pursuit of profits...
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.
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.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
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.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

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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