author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Roger Pulvers

Meta

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
Aug 1, 2010
Japanese quotes cast country's life and culture in disparate lights
SECOND IN A THREE-PART SERIES — In its current issue, the popular monthly magazine Bungei Shunju has a long feature titled "Tekichushita yogen 50," meaning "50 predictions that hit the mark."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 25, 2010
Savoring the wisdom of some Japanese predictions about Japan
FIRST IN A THREE-PART SERIES — I was 8 years old when we got our first television set, a 10-inch Admiral. That was in 1952, still early days for the new and exciting medium. It wasn't long before I was glued every week to my favorite program, "Criswell Predicts."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 18, 2010
Laws can lead, but society must grasp the value of childcare leave
In 1992 my wife, Susan, and I took ourfour children — then aged between 3 and 9 — from Kyoto to Sydney. The children, who until then had been going to Japanese kindergarten and primary schools, spoke Japanese among themselves. We felt they needed some time in an English-speaking environment if they...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 11, 2010
For Japan's own good, it's high time to get into that holiday thing
It may surprise you, but one of the trickiest words to translate from Japanese into English is isogashii. Every dictionary will tell you that its closest equivalent is "busy," and you'd be hard pressed to find a native Japanese speaker who disagreed with this.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 4, 2010
Japanese betray some blinkered views of their foreign coworkers
On June 6, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper ran a feature on Japanese people's attitudes to non-Japanese colleagues at their places of work. The article included the results of a survey that explored those attitudes.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 27, 2010
Where's the spirit of Japan's troublemaking coffee-house Hobbits?
There was a time, in the 1960s and early '70s, when the people of Japan were not apathetic about what was being done on their soil. The opposition here to the U.S. invasion of Vietnam and Japan's support of it was large scale and vocal. Mass demonstrations were frequently held across the nation, participated...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 20, 2010
Grammar and sums have gone — all that's left is a je ne sais quoi
Hi Bris again tho this is the first time Im facing U my msg that Im prepared to rocket to Alaska so that Alaska can rejoin the USA and we can be 5×10 states again like in Barack's time So seriously Your Mal
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 13, 2010
Time was when the future of English is simply real ba-a-a-a-d, or not
So I like OMG Im so not going there no matter what the Quadrangle says it will do Vlad and I are running Alaska from Tea Party headquarters in Cheney and I can see the whole world from my living room Again the TPA (Tea Party of Alaska) government refuses to kowtow [pronounced cow toe] to American imperialism...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 6, 2010
E-books look set to swamp us just as microwave ovens once did
The "microwave phenomenon" is with us again. I use this term to describe a product that arrives on the market before its time, then disappears for a while before returning with a vengeance to strike at people's hearts and wallets.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 30, 2010
Studies highlight a 'heartwarming' resu of the real thing in Japan
Nothing gets the circulation going like sex.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 23, 2010
What's a rogue gusher when you never had a cherry tree anyway?
Fingerpointing, dear reader, has been elevated to an art. Halliburton is pointing the finger at BP. Transocean is also pointing the finger at BP. And BP, not to be outdone, is pointing fingers at both Halliburton and Transocean.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 16, 2010
Reality check, 2010: 'Smoking doesn't cause cancer' (Japan Tobacco)
Every generation has its theme song.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 9, 2010
To realize its cultural potential, Japan must celebrate its strengths
Europe received a cultural shock of major proportions during the last quarter of the 19th century. The exquisite shikisai kankaku (sense of color), the startling spatial and compositional elements and the sublime craftsmanship of the Japanese arts took the continent by storm. Many well-known collectors...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2010
Downed in her prime, a beacon of Japan's emerging new culture
The formative culture of a country is its subculture. Mainstream culture is about the present; subculture creates the future.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 25, 2010
Book makes real those whose lives led them to become homeless
When I was living in Kyoto in the late 1960s, I would often see homeless people along the banks of the Kamo River. They generally lived under the bridges in structures made of cardboard and blue sheeting. Having seen many homeless people in my native Los Angeles, I was particularly struck by the neatness...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 18, 2010
Hisashi Inoue: A great friend, writer, and people's champion is gone
O n Friday, April 9, Hisashi Inoue died at the age of 75, and with his passing Japan lost its most brilliant playwright.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 4, 2010
Basking in misplaced faith is no way to prepare for any disaster
"Calender journalism" is what it's called. It's when the anniversary of an event, ideally in some round number of years, provides the point of departure for an article commemorating the event and/or considering its ongoing relevance.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 28, 2010
Words of wisdom from beyond the grave of Japan's secret pacts
A drama currently being played out on the stage of national politics in Japan may well mark a turning point in the country's postwar history.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 21, 2010
Who ever could make war if they saw it through children's eyes?
The misery of war remains for many long years as scar tissue in the minds of children deeply traumatized by it. And yet, there are not many works of fiction or nonfiction that have conveyed the confusion and pain felt by such children.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 14, 2010
Patient's tale casts a sublime lightness on some awful scars of war
"Elephant," by Minoru Betsuyaku, is a postwar classic of Japanese drama.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER