Roger Pulvers - The Japan Times

July 17, 2024

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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...

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.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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