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November 22, 2024
 

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Roger Pulvers

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Roger Pulvers
Roger Pulvers is an author, playwright, theater director and translator who divides his time between Tokyo and Sydney. He has published more than 40 books. His latest book in English is "The Dream of Lafcadio Hearn."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 2, 2008
Pondering the process of filling in the final page of a person's life
In the late 1980s, the mother of a close female friend of ours in Tokyo went into hospital for a hysterectomy. This is major, if fairly routine, surgery.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 26, 2008
A Japanese poet who found his true nature through nature itself
On Sept. 21 on this page, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the death of the poet, scientist and religious thinker Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), I turned to him for inspired insight into the Japanese view of nature.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 19, 2008
Is anyone watching over Japan's official food-quality watchdogs?
A policeman named Bakichi suspects that a farmer has been selling tainted meat and visits his farm. He discovers that the farmer has, against the law, recently sold flesh from a cow that died of tuberculosis. But Bakichi returns to the police station and falsely reports that the farmer buried the cow's...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 12, 2008
Lack-of-rage rage is all the rage in apathetically raging Japan
A few weeks ago a Sydney radio station held a phone-in about rage. I was floored as I sat and listened to the people who called in to vent some spleen.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 5, 2008
So you think U.S. democracy's dying? Well, you're probably right
The national conventions of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties are now but fast-fading memories. The only thing that I really wanted to know once they were over was: Who has the balloon concession for these events, because there's obviously a lot of easy money to be made from hot air.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2008
Don't go calling me kiseichū, you big daikon
By writing about bujoku (侮辱 , insults) in Japanese, I truly risk being labeled a namaiki na yatsu (生意気な奴 , a wiseacre). Well, wisdom comes in a variety of forms, including nasty ones. So, dear reader, even if you are donkan (鈍感 , obtuse), chi no meguri ga warui (血の巡りが悪い,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 28, 2008
Talking of fanatics, careerists, cynics . . . and true believers
"We're doing the worst thing to you: We're depriving you of an enemy."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 23, 2008
In Japanese, flattery will get you everywhere
In directing plays over the years, it has always struck me how clever actors are at producing insulting dialogue in the early stages of rehearsals. From the first day of rehearsal, they have the invective of their characters virtually down pat. When their character is called upon to say something nice...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 21, 2008
Kenji Miyazawa: In harmony with all creation
If the primary theme of human life in the 21st century is living in harmony with other animals and plants — and also preserving the bounties of the Earth — then Kenji Miyazawa is the Japanese writer who can most thoroughly help us to understand and pursue this theme.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 7, 2008
Japan is both a model and warning for today's rising world powers
The United States of America considers itself the world's democratic social prototype. At least most Americans seem to buy into that national self-image.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 31, 2008
Can poetry in translation ever be as poetic in its new language?
A friend who was visiting recently from Germany posed me a difficult question: How can poetry be translated?
LIFE / Language
Aug 26, 2008
Today we itadaku, for tomorrow we die
The Bible (in both testaments!) commands us to "eat, drink and be merry," but I think the wise individuals who thought up this pithy phrase meant it as a warning. To them there was more to life than endless imbibing and gluttony, though I can think of only one other thing.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 24, 2008
'Nation of copycats' maligns Japan's fine science and technology
One of the most commonly discussed issues of national character in Japan revolves around the question of personal creativity. Put simply, it is this: Are the Japanese lacking in the DNA of originality?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 17, 2008
There's a lot to learn from the life and times of Beate Sirota Gordon
"This film is a requiem to people who have been persecuted and died in war."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 10, 2008
Engineering a historical oblivion for soldiers of the wrong wars
My dad was a lucky man. Born in 1903, he was just too young for service in World War I and a bit too old for the same in World War II. Not that he couldn't have volunteered for the latter. He certainly could have, but decided not to.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 3, 2008
Lest we forget, it's a story that cries out for telling and retelling
What can be more chilling than the statistics of war? Tens of thousands dying in a single day on the Western Front in World War I. Millions perishing in World War II. India. Pakistan. Korea. Kenya. Vietnam. Cambodia. Rwanda. Iraq. And where next?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 27, 2008
One of poetry's finest reminds us of our place in the natural world
Skinny frog Don't give up! Issa is here
LIFE / Language
Jul 22, 2008
Katakana makes Japanese trendy and accessible
Words and phrases in katakana may appear to be easily recognizable to non-native speakers of Japanese, but they are often fiendishly difficult. This generally comes as a surprise to Japanese, who naturally assume that we can understand katakana words readily, seeing as many of them originated in foreign...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 20, 2008
Lemon-picking prof prompts reflection on strange twists of fate
Lately I have been thinking about some wonderful teachers I was blessed with at university. Three, in particular, shaped my life. Had I not encountered them, I doubt that I myself would have become an author of fiction, a translator and a teacher.
LIFE / Language
Jul 15, 2008
Learn katakana properly or face full-frontal nudity
I have never understood why Japanese people generally assume that words in katakana, the angular syllabary, are easier for nonnative speakers to master than words in hiragana, the rounded syllabary.
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
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.

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