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July 04, 2026
 

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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
LIFE / Language
Nov 19, 2018
‘The Year Book of the Contemporary Society’ celebrates the Japanese buzzwords that will lead us into the new year
What’s that word, the one for when you like a person but are too shy to say so? Or how about the one you use when you visit Tokyo Disney? Well, one book has all the answers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 17, 2018
Flamboyant ‘host club king’ Takeshi Aida given an extravagant sendoff
An extravagant wake and funeral was held earlier this month in memory of host club Ai Honten’s flamboyant founder, Takeshi Aida, who passed away on Oct. 25 at the age of 78 after a prolonged illness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Nov 10, 2018
‘Tinian and the Bomb’: Historical details shed light on one island’s overlooked role in World War II
Along with unfamiliar historical details from the U.S. side, made possible through recent declassification of archival documents, Don A. Farrell’s ‘Tinian and the Bomb’ provides an account of how the use of atomic bombs influenced the Japanese government’s decision to end the war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 3, 2018
Little buzz in Japan over Canada’s move to legalize marijuana
Japan’s media coverage of Canada’s Oct. 17 announcement that possession and use of marijuana would be legalized — subject to certain restrictions — has been mostly brief and low-key.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Nov 3, 2018
‘Newcomer’: Cop pounds the pavement in Tokyo shitamachi detective mystery
Although many police procedural mystery novels may appear to reflect realism, most authors only touch on a fraction of the time and shoe leather typically devoted to a real investigation. In “Newcomer,” author Keigo Higashino challenges the conventional wisdom, adopting an approach that underscores his...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 20, 2018
Conservative magazines set sights on Ikegami
“I don’t watch much TV on my own,” writes university lecturer Atsushi Iwata in WiLL magazine (November), “but sometimes I watch together with my wife. I don’t particularly care about what she watches, but there are times when I ask her to change the channel — particularly when it’s a program with Akira...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 15, 2018
Counting the ways to talk about numbers in Japanese
From ‘ban’ and ‘go’ to ‘kazu’ and ‘su,’ there are a variety of ways to refer to numbers in Japanese depending on the situation.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 6, 2018
Shincho 45’s fumbles over LGBT issues hastened its demise
Some magazines meet their end with a whimper. Last month, however, a monthly called Shincho 45 went out with a bang.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 22, 2018
Will Don Quijote tilt its lance at the Amazon giant?
A somewhat cynical commentary attributed to the late American TV comedian Jackie Gleason goes, “Anybody who says money can’t buy happiness doesn’t know where to shop.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 10, 2018
Rest, weary Japan traveler, and read this riveting ‘ishibumi’
Much can be gleaned from memorials and markers erected at roadsides and elsewhere in Japan to commemorate people or mark events.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 1, 2018
News outlets raise questions over U.S. military presence in Japan
War remembrance in Japan tends to adhere to a seasonal schedule. As the nation swelters in the mid-summer heat, media coverage, particularly on NHK, comes to a head on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It then subsides momentarily before Aug. 15, when...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 20, 2018
Smile as you study:/ Sharp salaryman senryu/ satirize the slog
Highlights from the 31st Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest riff on the situations employees encounter at the office, home or both.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 18, 2018
Tabloids offer a potpourri of treats to mark summer
To give their staff a mid-August break, most magazines came out with special two-week issues. A few, waxing nostalgic, are describing this year as “the last summer of the Heisei Era.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 4, 2018
Wheels that keep on rolling: Honda’s diminutive Super Cub celebrates its 60th anniversary
Soichiro Honda’s diminutive motorbike is more than just a reliable machine — it’s a veritable phenomenon. After selling more than 100 million units worldwide over the past six decades, the ageless Cub just keeps on rolling.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 4, 2018
There’s no easy way to escape from your smartphone
Two decades ago, it was still common to see articles in the media disparaging the lack of manners and self-absorbed behavior of mobile phone users. By around 2003, however, the phones had become so ubiquitous that the erstwhile complainers had most likely become phone addicts themselves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 30, 2018
Get a handle on kanji in Japanese with the hand classifier
Considering the versatility of the human hand, it should come as no surprise that it can be found within more than 1,000 kanji.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 28, 2018
‘Suicide Forest’ by Jeremy Bates: Creatively creepy and sure to scare
In Jeremy Bates’ ‘Suicide Forest,’ not everyone will return from a deadly journey through Aokigahara Jukai, the ‘Sea of Trees’ at the foot of Mount Fuji...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 14, 2018
Media stews over growing Chinese numbers in Japan
Since last year, immigration has been dominating the news in North America and Europe. Recently, it’s become a hot topic in Japan as well.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 2, 2018
In Japanese, finding ‘beauty’ in plump sheep and toadies
Kanji with ovine roots turns up all over the place in Japanese vocabulary.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 30, 2018
Implementation of minpaku laws lambasted
One year ago, the Kasumigaseki Watch column in the monthly business magazine Keizaikai (August 2017) noted that while the government has set an annual target of 40 million foreign visitors by 2020, the tourism ministry was unable to formulate an effective strategy due to “insufficient” staistical data....
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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