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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 Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 8, 2014
Promises of 'taboo' topics rarely live up to the billing
When you see the word 'tabu016b' in a headline, it's probably not really a taboo, mainly because self-censorship ensures that topics that really are taboo are treated with commensurate caution. Thus, an article claiming to expose some taboo might titillate, but probably won't reveal enough to invite litigation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 19, 2014
Marketers succeed by generating hitto products
Japanese consumers and marketers alike certainly love their ヒット商品 (hitto shōhin, hit products). To understand how this term came about, we need to look back to the decade following World War II. When living standards gradually began to improve from the early 1950s, Japanese consumers eagerly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 18, 2014
After Aum, post-9/11 lull, weeklies rediscover faith
March 20 will mark the 19th anniversary of the toxic nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by members of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) doomsday cult. That attack, which shook Japanese society to its very foundations, resulted in 13 deaths and thousands of injuries. Thirteen high-ranking Aum...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2014
Cash, sex, the mob? Weeklies seek clues in gyōza king's killing
Just when it was starting to look like 2013 would end with minimal gun violence in Japan, two socially prominent individuals were shot dead in the space of two days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2014
Imagining Edo Period intrigue from the U.S.
At the climax of "Shinju"(1994), Laura Joh Rowland's first mystery novel, gallant yoriki (police sergeant) Sano Ichiro rescues the shogun from an assassination plot and earns himself a big promotion. It's a pyrrhic victory leading to what Sano immediately realizes will be a thankless position that risks...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 22, 2013
This year's buzzwords show how Japanese is evolving
Last month I shelled out ¥2,980 for my 2014 edition of 現代用語の基礎知識 ("Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki", "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words"). It's a 1,660-page monster that's well worth the outlay, and this year publisher Jiyu Kokumin-sha, as an extra bonus, included a 74-page booklet that...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 21, 2013
The envelope, please (and don't lick it)
One of the most sensational news stories emanating from Japan over the past year never actually happened.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 7, 2013
Impending Japan-China war has the makings of a Clancy classic
On Nov. 23, China announced the creation of a newly expanded air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, overlapping a large expanse of territory also claimed by Japan. The move has produced a visceral reaction in the Japanese vernacular media, particularly the weekly tabloids. Five...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 24, 2013
TV sports broadcasts as a language-learning tool
Another exciting grand sumo tournament ended yesterday, and brought back memories of my first encounter with sumo, in Okinawa back in September 1965.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 23, 2013
'Black' firms exploit staff, 'black' state taxes them
Burakku kigyu014d' refers to companies where management has no desire to reward workers, and where labor laws are intentionally violated. Wages tend to be low, working hours long — with unpaid overtime — and employees are often subjected to 'power harassment' at the hands of their supervisors.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 16, 2013
The day JFK died: Fifty years on, the assassination still haunts Americans
The murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, forever changed America. I was 16 years old when it happened, and still haven't fully come to terms with it. The indelible sense of loss and still-unanswered questions — How it could have been allowed to happen? Who was behind...
LIFE
Nov 16, 2013
Fifty years later, conspiracy theories live on
"Any concerted plan that placed Lee Harvey Oswald in the gunner's seat," wrote Norman Mailer in "Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery," "would have had to have been built on the calculation that he would miss." Yet Mailer, whose research took him back to the city of Minsk, where Oswald had lived under...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 9, 2013
Learning to revel in the odd with the Ig Nobel
"I noticed there was a suspicious-looking email in my in box with the subject 'Ig Nobel' and 'Congratulations.' At first I thought it was some kind of spam. I was going to disregard it, but then I recalled the famous Ig Nobel awards," relates Dr. Masanori Niimi of Teikyo University in Shukan Shincho...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 27, 2013
Taking count of the sufficiency of Japanese suffixes
One of the first things new learners of Japanese must struggle with is the amazing variety of classifiers for numbers. When counting books, for instance, the number is followed by 冊 (satsu, volumes, as in issatsu, nisatsu etc.); for thin, elongated objects such as pencils it's 本 (hon, as in ippon,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 26, 2013
Japan Inc.'s hurt pride may be behind bout of fresh phone fears
What's the explanation for the current surge in concern over the poor manners and inattention of addicted cellphone users — especially considering smart phones are arguably no more distracting than the previous generation of mobile gadgets
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2013
You may find mei mystifying
It's almost Halloween again, so before I set out my カボチャ提灯 (kabocha chōchin, jack-o'-lantern), I thought the time is right to take up the topic of 迷信 (meishin, superstition). The first character is 迷, meaning lost or puzzled, made by combining the phonetic 米 (alternatively read mai,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 12, 2013
Tabloids brimming with anti-Korea diatribes
For 11 consecutive days from the start of this month, every front page of the Yukan Fuji, a nationally circulated evening tabloid published by the Sankei Shimbun, was embellished with at least one negative reference to South Korea. Some headline excerpts:
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 22, 2013
A Japanese word-processing primer for beginners
Even a u5165u9580u8005 (nyu016bmonsha, entry-level learner) of Japanese can use a personal computer to his or her advantage, as a supplementary learning tool.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 21, 2013
Presenting the up, down and dark sides of 'Gorinnomics'
The weekly magazines' and tabloids' reaction to the selection of Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympics reminds one of an oft-quoted remark by Oscar Wilde that goes, "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 21, 2013
Amateur sleuths pursue callous California killers
In "You Only Live Twice" (1964), the 12th in Ian Fleming's series of James Bond novels, a perplexed Tiger Tanaka, MI5's Japanese secret police liaison, informs 007 he was unaware that ninjas still existed.
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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