author

 
 
 Mark Schreiber

Meta

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.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 25, 2002
Debunking strange myths about Asia, Part I
In 1980, I traveled through the United States just after the TV miniseries "Shogun" ended its run. Any time I mentioned to someone that I was living in Japan, he or she would invariably ask me one of two questions related to the program. One was, "Is it true that back then a samurai could chop off somebody's...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002
A rollicking romp through ancient Edo
THE PILLOW BOOK OF LADY WISTERIA, by Laura Joh Rowland. St. Martin's Minotaur: New York, 2002,292 pp., $24.95 (cloth) While sports fans' attention is focused on Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle Mariners baseball fame, the exploits of Ichiro Sano, the Tokugawa shogunate's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 14, 2002
The name is Otaku, James Otaku
Don't go to Akihabara if you're looking to buy an Aston Martin with twin machine guns, or a pen that shoots poisoned darts. Aside from these, though, there's enough exotic spy goodies there to keep 007 -- or even the most discerning otaku -- supplied for years to come.
COMMUNITY
Jul 11, 2002
Keep those cards and letters coming, folks
When customers sound off about problems, good companies listen, even in Japan
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 27, 2002
Chinese invasion making waves in Japan
The other day, I happened to be on the platform of JR Kichijoji Station as a Sobu Line express pulled in. Wanting to be certain it would stop at the next station, Nishi-Ogikubo, I inquired to the young man standing next to me. In halting Japanese, he said that he was Chinese and didn't understand my...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 16, 2002
Why the rain is mainly a pain
Your shoes make squishing sounds when you walk. After a couple of days' use, your bath towel begins to smell like it recently emerged from an Egyptian sarcophagus. Rain hats and scarves, umbrellas and waterproofing sprays proliferate. But no matter what you do, you still don't feel dry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2002
Canny Japanese playing it by the numbers
Any time I require the services of a taxi, I can easily recall the telephone number of the Daiwa Taxi Co., 3563-5151, because it transliterates phonetically into "Sa, Goro-san, koi-koi" (Well, come and pick me up Goro-san).
COMMUNITY
Jun 2, 2002
See you at Almond
Earlier this year, the Dentsu Research Institute predicted that Japan's co-hosting of the World Cup would benefit the economy to the tune of 3.182 trillion yen. While Tokyo isn't hosting any of the games, its glitzy Roppongi district will likely play host to thousands of soccer fans from around the world...
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002
A plastic menagerie for kids of all ages
"Instead of only children, we started to think about what we could sell to people in their 30s, 40s or 50s."
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Apr 28, 2002
Japan's 'long-awaited spring'
In the morning edition of the Asahi Shimbun, Monday, April 28, 1952, there was a front-page editorial titled "A New Start for Japan." The Occupation, Asahi opined, had been "almost akin to colonialism," resulting in people becoming "irresponsible, obsequious and listless . . . unable to perceive issues...
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002
A dicey history
The earliest reference to gambling in Japan -- found in the eighth-century, 31-volume "Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan)" -- states that in 685 AD, Emperor Temmu passed the time playing a dice game similar to backgammon called sugo-roku (double sixes). Once his successor Empress Jito assumed the throne,...
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2002
Let's enjoy new-look Nihongo
"I work at a big soft company. I was in office love with my boss. But I decided to make an image change of myself. Then I found a handsome guy who has a very nice open car. He said a charming girl must not be a high miss. I will goal in with him."
COMMUNITY
Jan 20, 2002
Kabukicho: where worlds collide
About 1 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 1, 2001, a fire of undetermined origin swept through the No. 56 Myojo Building in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district, resulting in the deaths of 44 people on the upper two floors. While investigators say they have ruled out arson, stories in the tabloid press continue...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001
Photo-news loses its focus
Last August's demise of Shinchosha's weekly photo newsmagazine Focus marked a major publishing milestone in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001
In love with the Harley legend
It's Sunday afternoon in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, and the local Harley-Davidson shop, American Street, is playing host to a stream of visitors in black leather jackets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001
Hell on earth in '23
"The pillars of the house made groaning sounds and began to crack. An earthquake! The wall clock stopped, and the electric fan went flying." That was how Hisamatsu Yamato, then an 18-year-old living in Tokyo's Honjo district, recalled the moment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 8, 2001
In the pink
When Yokohama hosts the final and three other games in the soccer World Cup next June, foreign visitors will be spared a full-frontal view of the city's sleazier side by the waterfront, where a campaign to lessen any shock to their systems has been under way since last year.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?