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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
Oct 21, 2012
Watching the wealthy, a popular spectator sport
Twenty-five years ago, in what was to became known as the bubble economy, many Japanese suddenly found themselves awash in money.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 7, 2012
Tabloids return fire, urge China business pullout
On Sept. 29, the 40th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Sankei Shimbun editorial writer Ryutaro Kobayashi asked how it would be possible for Japan to continue discussions with a China that had "lost its national dignity."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2012
Timely fictional war scenarios that play out in Asian waters
Tiger's Claw, by Dale Brown. William Morrow, 2012, 432 pp., $26.99 (hardcover) Red Cell, by Mark Henshaw. Touchstone, 2012, 336 pp., $24.99 (hardcover) Future war fiction — also known as alternate history or military science fiction — has been around a long time. Occasionally such books have proved...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 16, 2012
Getting food on tables is increasingly difficult
The cover of Nikkei Business of Aug. 27 carried a photograph of a sirloin steak atop a sizzling platter. The meat was artfully trimmed to form the shape of the Japanese archipelago.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 2, 2012
Will the Takeshima dispute break the Korean wave?
"There's something sad, when a political problem goes so far as to spill over to the entertainment industry," rues journalist Kaoru Kikuchi in Sunday Mainichi (Sep. 9).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 20, 2012
A how-to guide to becoming a translator of how-to guides
Thinking back, I never set out with the intention of becoming a translator. I was employed by a small travel agency in Osaka and was only dimly aware that such an occupation even existed. But word got around that I could read Japanese, and one winter day in 1975 I was approached by an inventor who had...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 19, 2012
Yakuza face new battles within and without
The nation's largest underworld syndicate, the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, is 97 years old.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2012
Strange tales emanating from the jungles of Southeast Asia
Border Run, by Simon Lewis. Scribner, 2012, 240 pp., $24.00 (hardcover) Slash and Burn, by Colin Cotterill. Soho Crime, 2012, 290 pp., $25.00 (hardcover) "I've always loved that classic noir staple — of doomed characters trying to get away with a crime and just digging themselves further into a hole,"...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 5, 2012
Steamy, sleepless nights grind down the nation
Sleeping-goods manufacturer Nishikawa Sangyo Co. Ltd., founded in Omi Province (modern-day Shiga Prefecture) in 1566, got its start in business selling mosquito netting. The company's Tokyo retail outlet, on the opposite side of the Nihonbashi Bridge from the Mitsukoshi department store, has been in...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 22, 2012
Spies and their watchers in a tense war of nerves
What in the world is China going to do with 5,000 tsubo — about four acres — of land in Niigata City? Build a new consulate general, it says. But that seems like an awful lot for a consulate in a regional city whose main activity since it initially opened has been issuance of commercial visas.
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012
Taxi facts and figures to impress your driver
Next time you're in the back seat and tired of watching the meter clock up, use these ice-breakers to get the conversation flowing in your driver's language.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012
A century of Tokyo taxis
The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages...
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012
Talking the talk
Taxi-business jargon is a lingo all of its own. Here's a sample of the way those drivers think:
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 8, 2012
Attitudes hardening toward the welfare state
Last March, the number of individuals receiving seikatsu hogo (financial assistance from the government) exceeded 2.1 million people, the first time the record had been surpassed since 1951. Payouts this year are likely to exceed ¥3.7 trillion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 24, 2012
Adventures and danger in the land of smiles
Vulture Peak, by John Burdett. Knopf, 2012, 304 pp., $25.95 (hardcover) A World of Trouble, by Jake Needham. Marshall Cavendish, 2012, 356 pp., $5.09 (Kindle) "Vulture Peak" is the latest installment in John Burdett's ongoing saga of Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Whatever impression readers...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 17, 2012
Social networking, online games in Japan media's sights
While much attention overseas has been focused on the ups and downs (mostly downs) of Facebook's recent initial public offering, the Japanese media have been subjecting online gaming and social networks to increasingly critical scrutiny. The issues raised range from complaints over lax privacy safeguards...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 3, 2012
Hashimoto: A man with a plan, or dictator with an agenda?
Thirty years ago, while a program director at NHK, Nobuo Ikeda oversaw a panel discussion on the merits of adopting a federated political system. Among the panelists were several influential politicians, including Morihiro Hosokawa, then-governor of Kumamoto Prefecture and later prime minister, and Takahiro...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 27, 2012
Life and death north and south of the Korean DMZ
The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson. Random House, 2012, $26.00 464 pp., (hardcover) Mr. Kill, by Martin Limon. Soho Crime, New York, 2011 $23.00 375 pp., (hardcover) A North Korean will instantly recognize that the young man called Pak Jun Do was raised in an orphanage; the name is a generic one...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 21, 2012
Save face when taking the expressway
Foreigners in Japan often encounter conversations in which Japanese terms or concepts are expressed in English in ways that, while not necessarily idiomatic, still get the meaning across effectively. One such example would be the Japanese expression 強い (tsuyoi, strong), which in addition to physical...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 20, 2012
Japan faces a long, hot, nuclear-free summer
Is Japan — and particularly the Kansai region — going to have enough electric power to get it through peak summer demand? The Meteorological Agency's three-month projection for May through July, posted on its website (www.jma.go.jp/jp/longfcst/000_1_10.html) hedges its bets. For the four main islands,...
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
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.
'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.
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.

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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