Stephen Mansfield - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Stephen Mansfield

Meta

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

LIFE / Travel

Feb 11, 2017

Crafts and coral of an embattled coast

A little north of the massive Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, a slew of scattered residential settlements and visitor sites are pincered between the Torii Station Army Base and an ammunition storage facility situated in Yomitan, a region of the southern mainland, where a massive U.S. amphibious landing took place in the closing months of World War II. The area has had to work hard to reclaim its cultural and historical identity, but also to honor those who perished in the war.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jan 21, 2017

'Wrong About Japan': A travelogue from the home of anime, manga and 'otaku'

"Wrong About Japan" was not universally appreciated when it was first published in 2005, but time has proven it to be a small, highly original contribution to books on this country. In it, author Peter Carey, recipient of two Man Booker prizes, traipses through urban Japan in the company of his son Charley, who is bent on exploring Japanese film, anime, manga and other facets of popular culture. The result is a very different hit list of travel objectives — and some fresh perspectives.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books

Jan 14, 2017

'Daimyo Gardens': a new perspective on Tokyo's venerable green spaces

Though overshadowed by Kyoto, which boasts more than 200 listed gardens, Tokyo likely has the foremost concentration of formal gardens of any Asian capital.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Jan 11, 2017

Secondhand bookshop exorcizing ghosts of the past

The first floor of the crumbling art deco building where my daughter lives in Riga, Latvia, houses a well-patronized secondhand English bookstore. I've bought several titles there. It led me to wondering why a business of this kind, a social space for readers, can thrive in the tiny Latvian capital, but not in Tokyo.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Jan 7, 2017

The 'washi' paper trail: from the tree to its many purposes

Stepping off the bus at the Gakko-iriguchi stop in Higashi-Chichibu Village in Saitama Prefecture, the first things to strike the eye are high-flying clusters of balloons, suspended like colorful dirigibles.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Dec 10, 2016

'My Life in Japanese Art and Gardens': Autobiography of 'wild boar' Zenko Adachi

By all accounts, Zenko Adachi (1899-1990) was quite a character. He described himself once as a "reckless, charging, wild boar kind of man" and this autobiography portrays him as a force of nature with a sensitive appreciation for the finer things in life, specifically gardens and art.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Dec 3, 2016

'Bull sumo' on the subtropical island of Tokunoshima

It was 5 p.m. when my plane touched down onto the small airstrip at Tokunoshima, an island in Kagoshima Prefecture that, in its climate and fauna, bears a strong resemblance to nearby Okinawa.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Nov 19, 2016

'Legless in Ginza': A Tokyo travelogue that avoids tired cliches

Invited for a two-year stint at the University of Tokyo, professor Robin Gerster set about "orientating" himself in Japan by exploring the possibilities of adapting the country to his own needs.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Nov 12, 2016

'Gardens of Gravel and Sand': The skeletal remains of Japan's ornamental landscapes

There are only a handful of foreign writers on the Japanese garden that can really be taken seriously. Among those who have applied their erudition and insight to the subject are Loraine E. Kuck, Gunter Nitschke, Marc P. Keane and David A. Slawson. Leonard Koren joins this exalted group with "Gardens of Gravel and Sand."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Nov 5, 2016

'Crooked Cucumber': The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki, author of the influential "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," is credited with introducing Zen to the West and founding California's first Zen Buddhist monastery.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Oct 29, 2016

'A Long Rainy Season': Haiku and tanka by 15 of Japan's leading female poets

In 1901, poet Akiko Yosano's "Midaregami" ("Tangled Hair") was published. This collection of 399 sensual, explicit tanka and haiku poems broke with the formal traditions set down centuries before. Her book allowed Japanese verse to transition from feminine to feminist.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Oct 15, 2016

Salt-stained and steamy: life in Izu's lush torrid zone

The Izu Peninsula, just two hours from Tokyo by train, is cherished for the slightly higher temperatures it enjoys compared to the capital. Mild winters and picturesque vacation homes attract the wealthy, brightly lit sanatoriums and retirement complexes draw the elderly, and white-sand beaches draw the surfers and sun worshippers.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES

Oct 12, 2016

Godiva chief finds modern business lessons in the ancient art of the bow

Arriving in Japan in 1985, Jerome Chouchan wasted little time enrolling in an archery dojo in Tokyo, a first step that has taken him to the elevated title of renshi and the rank of fifth dan.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books

Sep 17, 2016

Okinawan chronicles: 10 books that show the many faces of Japan's 'island paradise'

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books

Aug 20, 2016

From My Grandmother's Bedside: Sketches of Postwar Tokyo

Academic Norma Field spent the summer of 1995 in Tokyo, observing the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is the book that came out of that experience, a compilation of observations, snatched dialogues, musings, anecdotes, fragments and ruminations. The author had already published the highly acclaimed, "In the Realm of a Dying Emperor" a title analyzing the personal and public life of Japan.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Aug 6, 2016

Reading Zen in the Rocks

The powerful ambiguities of dry landscape arrangements, the inevitable questions they raise in relation to what constitutes a garden, the profundity of concepts and principals, many of them deriving from Taoism and Zen, never fail to baffle the uninitiated. Francoise Berthier, a professor of Japanese art and history, is singularly well qualified to explore the links between the aesthetics of the garden, its compositional elements, and the search for truth and enlightenment that the more accomplished and urbane landscape arrangements serve.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books

Jul 9, 2016

'Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy': Access the back stages of bunraku

High drama with puppets might strike Westerners as an unlikely theatrical experience, but mannequins and those who operate them are accorded considerable respect in Asia.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jul 8, 2016

The herb diet of Okinawa's long-living elders

Young and middle-aged Okinawans are among the most enthusiastic consumers of junk and processed food in Japan. American fast food and a sugar-rich diet have burdened islanders — who once lived staggeringly long lives — with the highest body-mass index rates in the country. Middle-aged men, in particular, now suffer from inordinately high rates of heart-related diseases and obesity. The longevity of Okinawa's elders stands in stark contrast to the health issues of younger islanders. However, there is resistance to this trend, and it's coming from Okinawan chef Kiyoko Yamashiro in a little town called Kin.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Jul 2, 2016

The eels, windmills and holy cars of Narita

To most, the city of Narita is a blur seen out the window of a train traveling between Japan's largest international airport and downtown Tokyo.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Jun 25, 2016

Route 58: a drive through Okinawa's peculiar past

The telegraph poles that once lined Okinawa's Route 58 have long gone, but the great coastal avenue still reminds me a little of the Dire Straits song "Telegraph Road." Like the lyrics of Mark Knopfler's extended anthem, Route 58 is a journey through time, a digest of history.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports