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Eric Margolis
Eric Margolis is a writer, book editor and translator from Japanese who is based in Nagoya. His writing has been published in The Japan Times, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Slate, The New Republic, Tokyo Weekender and elsewhere.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 23, 2023
Get your sports vocabulary into shape for the start of baseball season
Preseason baseball games have begun, catch up on your sports-related vocabulary so you don't strike out in any conversations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 18, 2023
Life and leisure in the fast lane: Japan's motorsports tourism push
Japan may be famous for its high-speed trains, but what if its cars were just as much of a tourist draw?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 14, 2023
Not so easy to fall in love: The app effect on Japan’s international dating scene
Japan has its own rules when it comes to Valentine's Day. Would you be surprised to know it has its own rules when it comes to dating apps, too?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Feb 13, 2023
Museums in Japan adjust to life after COVID-19
The country’s cultural spaces are looking to rethink their role in society as they face an uncertain future due to increased competition and an aging population.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 23, 2023
Resham Upreti wants his fellow Nepalis to succeed in Japan — without forgetting where they came from
When people arrive in Japan they can sometimes face the challenge of being 'double limited': unable to speak fluently in their native language or the tongue of their new home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 3, 2023
Sticking to your Japanese New Year’s resolutions
When speaking about resolutions, it's better to use a more decisive grammatical structure in Japanese than the regular 'I want' pattern.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 30, 2022
There’s more going on in a haiku than just the 5-7-5 syllable rule
Dive into one of Japan's most fascinating art forms during the holidays and think up a couple of haiku poems to celebrate the season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 10, 2022
Take a journey through the mythic and mundane in 'The Thorn Puller'
Hiromi Ito's semi-autobiographical, transnational novel probes the complexities of life as it follows the struggles of a woman shouldering an impressive load of family troubles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 29, 2022
In pushing adventure travel, rural towns see paths forward
Where tourists who flock by bus clog up sidewalks and restaurant reservation slots, those who travel further afield bring some positive baggage with them.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 5, 2022
Deep Dive is back! And the climate crisis is still a problem.
Oscar Boyd, Hanae Takahashi and Eric Margolis join new Deep Dive host Shaun McKenna to talk about how people in Japan get their climate news and what we need to do as citizens to aid in the fight.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 3, 2022
'I feel like I can’t live the life I had before Feb. 24'
How do you tell the world about a war? A Japanese publisher and pro-Ukrainian group team up in an attempt to get the story told by the people most affected by it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2022
How can you fight climate change in Japan? Learn how to talk about it.
A good approach to speaking about hot-button topics in Japanese is to use so-called softeners so that your don't come off as too direct with your opinions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 5, 2022
Japan’s foreign workers face a new post-COVID landscape
Tighter border controls amid the pandemic have kept technical interns and specified skilled workers from entering Japan. With restrictions now easing, can the government lure them back?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 15, 2022
What can we do to fight the climate crisis from Japan?
Dealing with the climate crisis means more than just recycling at this point. Educating yourself and others may now be the best thing you can do.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 29, 2022
Cherry blossoms, cranes and the language of Japanese symbols
The bald eagle of the United States and the orchids of China have deeper meanings in their respective cultures. What items do the Japanese give symbolic weight to?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 19, 2022
Li Kotomi's 'Solo Dance' flows across prose and borders
A beautiful translation by Arthur Reiji Morris of 'Solo Dance' will solidify Li Kotomi's place in the next generation of Japanese writers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 15, 2022
Yukio Mishima's dark satire obscures the light of humanity
'Beautiful Star,' a novel that the writer considered to be his masterpiece, is an absurd parody of society.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 6, 2022
The ‘nuclear’ terms you should know when discussing current affairs
Nuclear issues are always in the news. If you want to get into discussions on these topics, it's good to know your vocabulary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 3, 2022
Chesil's coming-of-age tale gives voice to the silenced
'The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart' is a short but heartfelt novel that tells an explicitly Zainichi story.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 5, 2022
The murky metaphors of 'Drive My Car' are a good way to venture into reading Japanese
Metaphors and similes are an important part of any language, but they're also a huge part of “Drive My Car.” Here's a look at how to break them down in Japanese.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?