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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.
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)
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2009
From rags to riches
In 1578, the lord of Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture and eastern Kanagawa Prefecture) authorized a tax-free market in Setagaya, then a small castle town under a minor vassal of the Hojo clan, which ruled the Kanto region from its fortified base in Odawara.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 28, 2008
Folklore meets detection in Asia
CURSE OF THE POGO STICK by Colin Cotterill. New York: SOHO Press Inc., 2008, 240 pp., $24 (cloth) Some mystery series adopt a backdrop in which indigenous cultures are forced to deal with the incursion of a more modern and powerful civilization. One example would be Eliott Pattison's of mysteries set...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 23, 2008
Tight budgets or not, the year's hit products roll on
As the year rushes toward its finale, Japan's media devotes a lot of coverage to identifying hitto shōhin (ヒット商品, hit products) that have succeeded in capturing consumers' hearts and minds over the previous 12 months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / BEST OF BOOKS: 2008
Dec 14, 2008
Ready for a little Yuletide reading?
THE FOURTH WATCHER by Timothy Hallinan (William Morrow)
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2008
A hideaway in Mito
The historic city of Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture serves as the transfer point to the JR Suigun Line, a narrow-gauge single-track line that runs along the scenic Kuji River en route to the Fukuroda Falls.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 23, 2008
Bite-'em-up exploits in lower Manhattan
YEAR OF THE DOG by Henry Chang. New York, Soho Press, Inc., 2008, 231 pp., $24 (cloth) Set in lower Manhattan's Chinese enclave, Henry Chang's latest novel is a sequel following the exploits of NYPD detective Jack Yu, who made his debut in "Chinatown Beat" in 2006.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 14, 2008
From Mitsukuni to natto
Mito, the historic seat of ancient Hitachi Province — present-day Ibaraki Prefecture — has all the right prerequisites for a nonstrenuous daylong excursion from Tokyo: convenient access, plenty of attractive sites, exotic foods and hospitable people.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 26, 2008
How Japanese mysteries evolved from imitation to adaptation
PURLOINED LETTERS: Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937, by Mark Silver. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008, 217 pp., $52 (cloth) Western-style stories of crime and detection began making their appearance in Japan from the mid-19th century, initially as translations of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 10, 2008
A short trip to 'paradise' at Yokohama's Hakkeijima
Yokohama's close proximity to Tokyo — less than half an hour by express train on the various JR, Tokyu or Keihin Kyuko lines — makes it exceptionally easy to get to, and I'm always looking for an excuse to visit this friendly and cosmopolitan town.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 7, 2008
New Japanese makes inroads into Chinese vocabulary
In my last column, on Aug. 5, I discussed how Japanese people still find it practical to use kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) when adopting new foreign terms and modern concepts.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 28, 2008
Western heroes in Asia: missing and believed dead
A certain thriller novel, whose title shall remain unnamed, was recently plopped into my hands by a friend whose career included an extended stint on a colonial police force. "I had trouble getting through it," he said, sounding glad to be rid of it.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 24, 2008
A tensely wrought tale of true believers
PROMENADE OF THE GODS by Koji Suzuki, translated by Takami Nieda. New York: Vertical Inc., 2008, 320 pp., $24.95 (cloth) Late one night, cram school operator Shirow Murakami is awakened by a cryptic phone call from an old school chum, Kunio Matsuoka, requesting that he move Matsuoka's car. Murakami is...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 2008
A tease stripped of credulity in Chicago's Little Vietnam
THE LAST STRIPTEASE, by Michael Wiley. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, 245 pp., $23.95 (cloth) In this novel, winner of last year's Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Best First Private-Eye Novel Contest, Chicago private investigator Joe Kozmarski is retained by an ex-judge to clear...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 22, 2008
Adding too much fiction to the history
PEARL HARBOR: A Novel of December 8th, by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, 366 pp., $25.95 (cloth) Last week, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said on CBS-TV that the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow enemy combatants to challenge...
CULTURE / Books
May 18, 2008
Manhunt for a Chinese woman
THE FINDER by Colin Harrison. New York: Sarah Chrichton Books, 2008, 325 pp., $25 (cloth) In this tightly woven page-turner by Colin Harrison, Jin Li, a young Chinese woman with an advanced university degree, engages in industrial espionage, setting off a series of violent events.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 20, 2008
A Tibetan terror rules the waves
THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. New York: Warner Books, 2007, 388 pp., $25.99 (cloth) Tales of suspense that incorporate obscure aspects of the supernatural from ancient civilizations have long enjoyed a popular following. Take William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" (1971), a...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 23, 2008
Astute teenage detective in a thriller for grownups
THE DEVIL'S WHISPER (Majutsu wa Sasayaku) by Miyuki Miyabe, translated by Deborah Stuhr Iwabuchi. Kodansha International, 2008, 250 pp., ¥2,600 (cloth) In ancient Greek tragedies, hopeless predicaments were often resolved through on-the-spot intervention of the gods — or rather actors playing gods...
LIFE / Language
Mar 11, 2008
Smart tips for avoiding those 'White Day' blues
This coming Friday, March 14, is Howaito Dei (White Day), when males follow the custom of reciprocating the Valentine's Day chocolates (or other gifts) they received a month earlier.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 24, 2008
Intrigues above and below the 38th parallel
HIDDEN MOON by James Church. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, 293 pp., $23.95 (cloth) THE WANDERING GHOST by Martin Limon. New York: SOHO Press, 2007, 314 pp., $24 (cloth)
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.
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.
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.

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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