author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Mark Schreiber

Meta

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
Nov 18, 2017
Zama murders prompt awareness of youth issues
Readers who may be contemplating homicide should be aware that concealing evidence of your crime — referred to in the language of jurisprudence as corpus delicti — is next to impossible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 4, 2017
Fatal road-rage cases highlight Japan's rise in aggressive driving
Whatever you call it, road rage can be deadly.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 23, 2017
'Dajare' 101: Why should Japanese have all the pun?
Chicago-born TV personality Dave Spector is the undisputed master of puns in Japan's u82b8u80fdu754c ('geinokai,' entertainment world).
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 21, 2017
Magazines hold their own against TV's 'iron chefs'
Prior to Japan's switch-over to full digital TV broadcasting in 2011, a number of industry insiders were already voicing concerns about how the new technology would affect their bottom line. With expanded bandwidth and additional channels, what — aside from reruns of old programs — could the networks...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 7, 2017
Is the response to scams criminally slow?
One of the more cynical dictums in Japanese goes "Shōjikimono ga baka o miru" ("Honesty doesn't pay"). In pre-modern times, neither did crime. The Osadamegaki Hyakkajo — the criminal code enforced by the Tokugawa rulers — prescribed an extensive list of severe punishments for those found guilty...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2017
'Ikiryo: Vengeance and Justice': Murder and romance in medieval Kyoto
The mysteries in I.J. Parker's Sugawara Akitada saga, set in the latter part of Japan's Heian Period (794-1185), are now up to 17 full-length books. Throughout, she has skillfully adopted the literary model of the traditional Asian crime novel in which the protagonist, a "righteous official," must investigate...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 18, 2017
Sumo helps with heavy lifting in language
Consider today's column my personal testimony that the sport of sumo can be a very useful aid for learning the Japanese language.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 16, 2017
Konbini book sales are bound to make a difference
It should be evident to anyone who rides a commuter train or bus that Japan is a nation of people who take reading seriously. Needless to say, however, their reading habits, and readers' tastes, have been changing with the times.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 4, 2017
Japanese packed with phrases for the ages
The Japanese language certainly has no shortage of age-related terms, and the subject can pop up in almost any context.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 2, 2017
The naivete of youth can be a costly problem
From Aug. 15, the Yukan Fuji ran a three-part series by investigative reporter Fumiaki Tada about the "dangerous summer" that confronts Japan's young people, including the possibility of falling victim to fraud or robbery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 2, 2017
'The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture': A quality guide to the Showa Era and beyond
As members of Japan's postwar baby boom generation approach their seventh decade, they have been wallowing in an extended nostalgia boom over the historical and cultural accouterments of the Showa Era (1926-89). If you feel left out of the discussion, the antidote is to hunt down a copy of this book,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 2, 2017
'Soul Cage': Gritty crime tale is step forward for Tetsuya Honda
Lieutenant Reiko Himekawa heads a team of homicide investigators at Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters. They are dispatched to the city's gritty Ota Ward, where a human hand had been found without a body. From fingerprints, its owner is soon identified as Kenichi Takaoka, operator of a small construction...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 19, 2017
Japan grapples with its new arrivals
Given its current popularity in certain U.S. political circles, it was inevitable that the word "fake" would eventually find traction in Japan. The September issue of the monthly magazine Bungei Shunju applies it to the headline of an article by journalist Miyu Suzuki titled "'Fake refugees' being forced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2017
'Last Stop Tokyo': Foreigner fights fate in Tokyo's terra incognita
Novels in which naive Western sojourners in Japan become drawn into a maelstrom of violence are numerous enough to deserve a genre of their own. The most memorable include "Ransom," by Jay McInerny (1985); "Whore Banquets" by Matthew Kneale (1987); "The Bang Devils" by Patrick Foss (2003); "Tokyo" by...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 5, 2017
Speed bump won't stop Kiyomiya, Japanese baseball's teen powerhouse
So far, 2017 has been a banner year for sports prodigies in Japan, from table tennis and shogi to baseball.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 24, 2017
The stories behind familiar Japanese words
Let's take a look at the origins of half a dozen Japanese words that have found wide usage in English.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 22, 2017
Try checking into a love hotel for a good night's sleep
Around the end of each year's rainy season in July, it's common for the media to run articles on the subject of sleep. Hot weather is not the only factor that makes Japan less conducive to sleeping in summer. Since daylight savings is not practiced, the sun rises before 5 a.m., affecting many people's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 8, 2017
Abe’s hotel spa and gym visits inflame media speculation
Are Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's weekly "workouts" masking something more ominous?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 24, 2017
What will we eat when all the food runs out?
Last week, the Yukan Fuji (June 20) reported that 20 outlets in the Kappa Sushi conveyor belt sushi chain in east and west Japan are promoting an all-you-can-eat special, with patrons from middle-school age to 64 years charged ¥1,706 (boys and men) or ¥1,490 (girls and women). Seniors over 65 can partake...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2017
Kanji ‘toilet training’ is a hit with kids
The media is abuzz over a new series of workbooks for children titled u3046u3093u3053u6f22u5b57u30c9u30eau30eb (Unko Kanji Doriru, 'Poop Kanji Drills').
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER