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May 03, 2024
 

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Stephen Mansfield

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Stephen Mansfield
Photojournalist and author Stephen Mansfield's work has appeared in over 70 publications worldwide, on subjects ranging from conflict in the Middle East to cultural analysis, interviews and book reviews. A longtime Japan Times contributor, his latest book is "Japan's Master Gardens: Lessons in Space & Environment."
For Stephen Mansfield's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2020
‘The Story of a Single Woman’: A frank, unsentimental gaze at past loves
Chiyo Uno's semi-autobiographical novel captures the spirit of a woman unrestrained by social norms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2020
‘Pictures from the Water Trade: An Englishman in Japan’ review: Unveiling Tokyo with a memoir in disguise
Published in 1985, John David Morley's “Pictures from the Water Trade” foreshadowed contemporary methods and approaches to travel writing about Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2020
‘Peaceful Circumstances’: Negotiating relationships in a time of war
Roger Pulvers' “Peaceful Circumstances” is a coming-of-age novel about a young woman at a time when the world is rapidly unraveling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2020
The suspended traveler’s reading list
Travel writing can change your life, or at least nudge it in a different direction. In these troubled times, it can also console and inspire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 2, 2020
'The Book of Tea' review: Tea ceremony and all its complex subtleties
A.L. Sadler examines in minute detail the origins of tea drinking and the rich and complex components of its ritualization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 25, 2020
Where we want to go in Japan once this is all over
COVID-19 has put a pause on travel, but that doesn't mean we can't plan. The Japan Times' Escape page regulars write about where they want to go in Japan once we see the back of COVID-19.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 7, 2020
Altered perspectives: The 'interactive' Okinawan garden
If Japanese landscape gardeners looked toward mountains and river valleys for inspiration in creating the rock arrangements that form the power grids of their gardens, infusing natural elements with Taoist and Buddhist principles, it is likely that Okinawans cast their eyes over the seas that surround their subtropical islands, finding in their marine gardens models for terrestrial forms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 22, 2020
'Tokyo Sketches: Short Stories': A tribute to an ever-changing city
Journalist Pete Hamill's anthology of 13 Tokyo-based stories bring a cast of multicultural characters, united by their lives in the metropolis, to life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 1, 2020
'Untangling my Chopsticks': Searching for the origins of Japanese fine dining
Engagingly written and well-researched, Victoria Abbott Riccardi's culinary memoir, 'Untangling My Chopsticks,' traces her year immersed in Kyoto's kaiseki culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2020
Surrendering to a hot-spring package tour in snowy Yunishigawa
Winter is a fine time to visit Yunishigawa. The months from December to the first week of March sees the enchanting Kamakura Festival, when hundreds of kamakura (snow huts) are constructed along the Yunishigawa river, in forest recesses and in the precincts of temples and shrines.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 11, 2020
'Childhood Years': Junichiro Tanizaki's precious memories of Tokyo
Autobiographies tend to reveal only as much as the subject chooses to share. Here, Junichiro Tanizaki is surprisingly forthright in detailing his inner life, especially those pertaining to the germination of his sexuality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 21, 2019
'The Pine Islands': No ordinary death is enough for two misfit souls
Marion Poschmann's 'The Pine Islands' follows two haunted travelers on their journey across Japan, guided by the poems of Matsuo Basho.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 14, 2019
'A Mature Woman': The truth squares off against corrupt Japanese establishments
Saiichi Maruya's 'A Mature Woman' takes on misogyny, power harassment and corruption with a witty, satirical touch.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 23, 2019
Miyagi's kitchen: Country banquets, Okinawan-style
At Minshuku Miyagi, no two family-style meals are ever the same, but self-taught chef Masashi Miyagi is guaranteed to whip up innovative Okinawan dishes for his guests.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Sep 21, 2019
Signs of life: Urban renewal in Nakamachi
The oldest surviving quarter of Toba, Mie Prefecture, pins its hopes on crafts and small businesses to stay afloat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 7, 2019
A literary platform for the collected writers of Kyoto
Writers in Kyoto is an English-language literary salon formed by writer John Dougill in 2015 to create a 'sense of community' for writers connected to Japan's imperial capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2019
Gujo-Hachiman: Travel along the rivers of time
Perhaps it is the gurgling brooks that feed the town's roadside culverts, the colorful, vaguely Pyrenean window boxes, or the friendly, natural disposition of the locals — Gujo-Hachiman seems a place where people's spirits are pitched a notch or two higher than elsewhere.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 3, 2019
'Mishima: A Vision of the Void': Remembering a literary giant as he would have wanted
Marguerite Yourcenar's literary biography of Yukio Mishima delves into the enigmatic author as well as the social conditions that shaped his rise and fall.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 27, 2019
Naha restaurants carry on the legacy of Okinawa court cuisine
The pleasures of the common Okinawan table are indisputable, but at restaurants like Ryukyu Cuisine Mie or Sui Dunchi guests can experience kyu016btei ryu014dri (court cuisine) created in the spirit of a cherished culinary art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 27, 2019
'Pink Samurai': Resolving the paradoxes of Japan's appetite for sex
Scholarly in the depth of its research methods and the sheer scope of its coverage, Nicholas Bornoff explores the means and instruments for achieving erotic pleasure in 1991 Japan.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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