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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
Jun 10, 2017
Today's web of lies and disinformation: It's a lot to stomach
The advent of the internet has given new life to a lot of old wives' tales and urban legends. With so much information (and disinformation) out there, how does one separate the wheat from the chaff? When spotting errors of fact, whether stemming from simple ignorance, laziness or intentional deception,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 3, 2017
'The Spy Across the Table': Jim Brodie returns in tautly written thriller
While at the opening of a kabuki performance at the Kennedy Center's Opera House theater in D.C., two close friends of San Francisco art dealer and martial arts practitioner Jim Brodie are gunned down by a professional assassin. One of them, Sayuri Tanaka, was a former college roommate of America's first...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 27, 2017
Magazine snares rival 'scoop thief' red-handed
In its May 25 issue, Shukan Shincho set pens a-pushing and tongues a-wagging throughout the nation by accusing rival weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun of engaging in sneaky schemes to steal its thunder.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 15, 2017
Reciting the rescript to flaunt your Japanese
If you'd like to learn the Imperial Rescript on Education as a Japanese memory test, it's less than a single A4 page in length.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 13, 2017
North Korea news simmering on front and back burners
Returning from their Golden Week holiday break, the weekly magazines have directed much of their attention to the Korean Peninsula, with a fusillade of commentary by politicians, former diplomats, journalists, academics and the ubiquitous commentators referred to as gunji hyoron-ka — usually translated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2017
'The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping': Crime novel lacks a detective or PI but entertains nonetheless
Bachelor executive Shinsuke Sakuma is an egotistic narcissist with a callous attitude toward females, preferring one-night stands to serious relationships.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 29, 2017
Donald Trump's 'first 100 days' is down for the count
In American newspapers, wire services, cable TV and blogs, U.S. President Donald Trump is beset by a host of recurring brickbats, from complaints over his refusal to make public his income tax returns and alleged Russian connections, to his reputation as a male chauvinist and propensity to cite conspiracy...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 10, 2017
Short, sweet and to the point: the one-line retort
'Kankei nai' is the ultimate brush-off, meaning 'Nothing to do with me.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 1, 2017
Easter in Japan shows signs of life as businesses tap the final festival frontier
Easter is one of the few major calendar events in the West that goes largely unnoticed here — until now, anyway.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 18, 2017
The Japan tabloid guide to health and happiness
An alien first encountering Japan's weekly tabloid magazines might conclude he has come to Earth in a nation of inquisitive hypochondriacs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 13, 2017
Toto rolls out droll toilet humor with a whiff of class
Sit back and relax as this week's Bilingual column splashes on the results of Toto's 2016 Toilet Senryu Contest.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 11, 2017
'Tokyo Nights': Hard-boiled detective fiction set in Tokyo's meaner streets
When 19-year-old Natasha Philips is found drowned, Manchester police attribute her death to "misadventure." But the girl's wealthy father suspects foul play and, convinced the police are incompetent, secures the services of private investigator Colin McCann — against McCann's better judgment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 4, 2017
Japan's magazines get misty-eyed over Showa Era brothels
Commencing with the death of Emperor Taisho on Christmas Day, 1926, the Showa Era ran for 62 years and two weeks, ending with the death of Emperor Hirohito (posthumously referred to as Emperor Showa) at the age of 87 on Jan. 7, 1989.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 25, 2017
'The Gentleman from Japan': Impersonation and intrigue in China and Europe
"You don't know anything, you like noodles, and you aren't Japanese. Can we put that on your gravestone?"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 11, 2017
Defiant Apa paints a target on its back
"The Japanese airplanes attacked, and a total of 1,200 men, roughly half the victims of Pearl Harbor, died in action on the USS Arizona. ... In general, the powder magazine at the ship's bottom is not induced to explode in a bombing and it would not have caught fire and blown up six minutes after the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 6, 2017
Some fiendishly complex archaic kanji just won't die
Even in the 21st century, a whole bunch of difficult, nonstandard and archaic kanji don't appear to be in any danger of being phased out.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 28, 2017
2017: a year for sumo nostalgia
On Jan. 22, 30-year-old ozeki (champion) Kisenosato (real name Yutaka Hagiwara) emerged victorious in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament with an outstanding record of 14 wins and only one loss. His promotion to history's 72nd yokozuna (grand champion) was confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association three...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 9, 2017
Feel young again with the 'yokozuna' products of last year
Back in 1971, a newly launched newspaper covering retailing and distribution, named the 日経流通新聞 (Nikkei Ryūtsū Shimbun, subsequently named Nikkei Marketing Journal), was looking for a promotional idea. It came up with a real winner by mimicking a 相撲番付 (sumō banzuke, a stylized hierarchical...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 7, 2017
Figuring out Japan's unsolved mysteries
As a visit to any large public library or online search will reveal, Japan boasts a superb body of crime literature, both fiction and nonfiction. Among these, English readers may be most familiar with a half-dozen works by Seicho Matsumoto (1909-92). Many of his novels, such as "Kuroi Fukuin" ("The Black...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 24, 2016
Japan reconsiders and reinterprets the Pearl Harbor attack
In May, U.S. President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, the city that became the birthplace of the age of nuclear warfare. It should come as no surprise that Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is scheduled to make a reciprocal gesture of reconciliation...
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?
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