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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
May 19, 2018
Disgraced scientist Haruko Obokata back in public eye with photo spread in weekly magazine
'Hello, Bunshun-san. Yesterday I wrote in my diary that, 'Well, it's come to this, that I am working with you.'"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 5, 2018
News outlets quick to fall in love with prison break coverage
Did somebody say "prison break"? The thought took me back to the late 1970s, when I was waiting in the outbound immigration queue at Narita Airport, and found myself standing beside U.S. actor David Janssen (1931-80). From 1963, he'd starred in four seasons of the wildly popular ABC TV show "The Fugitive"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 30, 2018
Using the internet to dig up some basics in Japanese
Once, many, many years ago, I found a rail pass someone left behind next to a public pay phone in Hamamatsucho Station in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 21, 2018
Sumo incident in Kyoto rekindles gender debate in the ring
In Japan's ancient Shinto religion, purity comes before morality. Indeed, purity is morality. Women are impure. They menstruate and bear children. The exclusion of women from certain religious and ceremonial functions went unquestioned for millennia. It no longer does — but it is not extinct either....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Apr 21, 2018
'Hiroshima Boy': Mas Arai takes a well-deserved bow in the saga's final mystery
Masao 'Mas' Arai, a humble gardener from Southern California, is a righteous dude. Carrying the ashes of his lifelong friend and fellow hibakusha (A-bomb survivor) Haruo Mukai, the 86-year-old Arai arrives for what he realizes will be his last visit to Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 7, 2018
Magazines indulge Japan's healthy obsession with staying spry
There has been a recent surge of articles in Japan's weekly magazines about diet, health and avoiding illnesses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 2, 2018
A company freshman's sharp learning curve
The first Monday in April — April 2 this year — sees tens of thousands of 生き生きして元気な新入社員 (ikiiki shite genki na shinnyū shain, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed newly hired company employees) — also referred to as フレシュマン (fureshuman, freshmen) — decked out in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 17, 2018
With amnesty or death, Japan seeks to draw a line under Heisei Era crimes
Those with the conviction that members of Japan's Imperial family have negligible impact on the lives of their subjects should bear in mind that for a tiny few, it can literally be a matter of life or death.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 3, 2018
Anniversaries loom for gum producer Lotte and the Yoshiwara red-light district
In 1941, a 19-year-old Korean chemistry student named Shin Kyuk-ho traveled to Tokyo to study at a technical college. He remained in Japan following the war and, under the name Takeo Shigemitsu, founded Lotte Co. in 1948. The brand's name was inspired by Charlotte, the heroine of Johann Wolfgang von...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 26, 2018
To have and to hold, to slap and to tickle: For tactile versatility, you have to hand it to this kanji
One way to acquire more kanji is to organize them into a relational database. To show how this works, let's look at some of the many characters using the hand radical.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 17, 2018
The face of immigration is rapidly changing in Japan
Over the past half decade, major changes have taken place in the demographics of foreign residents in Japan. Weekly Playboy's Dec. 18 issue devoted a four-page article to "Research into Vietnamese." Why Vietnamese? And why now?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 3, 2018
Has Christel Takigawa cursed Japan with her 2020 Olympics omotenashi pitch?
"One thing made clear from (our) survey is that the wholehearted looking after guests is not necessarily appreciated."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 22, 2018
Learning Japanese from TV samurai tales of the wild East
Portraying legendary heroes in colorful costumes of yore, jidaigeki (period dramas) date back to the earliest years of silent films, and the genre has been frequently compared with America's TV Westerns.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 20, 2018
The knives begin to sharpen for Hakuho after sumo scandal
At the start of last November’s Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, Shukan Taishu magazine (Nov. 20) led off its issue with a four-page article titled “What you need to know to enjoy the year’s final tournament tenfold.”
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 6, 2018
2018: Year of the 800-pound Gorilla
Four topics dominated Japan's non-Twitter news cycle for the last quarter of 2017. Two involved sports: the signing of 23-year-old baseball superstar Shohei Otani to play for the Los Angeles Angels of the American League; and the resignation of sumo grand champion Harumafuji after assaulting a younger...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 18, 2017
Hit products of 2017 home in on uchi
Nikkei Marketing Journal ranks the hit products for 2017, with Amazon and Rakuten sitting pretty among the grand champions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 16, 2017
Showa's not giving up without a fight
The government has decided that the 31st year of Heisei will end with the abdication of Emperor Akihito 120 days into 2019, on April 30. Then on May 1, Crown Prince Naruhito will become emperor and a new nengō (name of the period of reign) will be announced.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 2, 2017
Pachinko parlors are losing their balls while Japan considers a cashless economy
With the Diet's passing of a law last December that will legalize casino gambling, many are wondering how this development will affect the few forms of tightly controlled gambling and gaming that have been permitted up to now — like pachinko (a type of pinball machine).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2017
Eli K. P. William's dystopian 'The Naked World' is not a tale for technophobes
It's been a banner year for science-fiction films. In October, cinema fans flocked to see Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner 2049." And "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," featuring Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher, premiers in the U.S. on Dec. 15.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 27, 2017
Nihongo on the go: Words to know in 2018
Learn some of the latest youth slangs in Japanese, including the 'tooth cavity pose.'
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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