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May 17, 2024
 

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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.
For Mark Schreiber's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
LIFE / Language
Mar 6, 2007
Eek! It's White Day, so what to say to your gal?
In January 2004, members of a Japan Ground Self Defense Forces contingent headed for Iraq were shown on the news being seen off by their families. It was an emotional moment, with plenty of misty eyes in evidence; but not one of these gallant young soldiers going off to war was seen exchanging a kiss...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 18, 2007
Poet takes on the triads
A Case of Two Cities: An Inspector Chen Novel by Qiu Xiaolong. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006, 320 pp., $24.95 (cloth) In U.S. paperback fiction, the arrival of an American detective, or spy, in East Asia unleashes a predictable train of events. He will inevitably lock horns with a rich and powerful...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2007
What evil lurks in the hearts of men?
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril: A Novel, by Paul Malmont. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006, 371 pp., $24 (cloth) DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED by Colin Cotterill. New York: Soho Press Inc, 2006, 247 pp., $23 (cloth) I must confess a pronounced weakness for well-crafted mysteries spun around real historical...
LIFE / Language
Jan 16, 2007
Buzzword book taps into zeitgeist language
Since 1948, a huge compendium (about 1,700 pages in its 2007 edition) of words, phrases, slang, jargon and acronyms in dozens of categories titled the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words (Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki)" has made its annual appearance.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2006
A dip into the extraordinary of the ordinary
IN THE POOL by Hideo Okuda, translated by Giles Murray. Tokyo: IBC Publishing, 2006, 224 pp., $24.95 (cloth). On the surface, Irabu General Hospital appears no different from other medium-size privately owned medical facilities in the Tokyo area. It's only when patients' conditions defy simple diagnosis...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 19, 2006
Intrigues and conflicts, a millennium apart
BLACK ARROW by I.J. Parker. New York: Penguin Books, 2006, 354 pp., $13 (paper). A WOMAN IN JERUSALEM by A.B. Yehoshua, translated from the Hebrew by Hillel Halkin. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2006, 237 pp., $25 (cloth).
CULTURE / Books
Oct 22, 2006
It would be a crime to underestimate the gardener
This past summer I was delighted to discover a new "ethnic detective" character named Masuo "Mas" Arai, an elderly Japanese-American gardener whose credentials include a green thumb and a nose for sniffing out criminals. The creation of Los Angeles-based journalist and author Naomi Hirahara, Arai made...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006
Take a wild ride on the Orient Express
THE OTTOMAN CAGE by Barbara Nadel. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 312 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DRAGON FIRE by William S. Cohen. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006, 383 pp., $24.95 (cloth). "One of the most frequently asked questions that I get as a British author," Barbara Nadel tells the e-zine...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 20, 2006
Summertime, and the dying is easy
RENDEZVOUS AT KAMAKURA INN by Marshall Browne. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 288 pp., $23.95 (cloth). SAYONARA BAR by Susan Barker. London: Black Swan Books, 2006, 430 pp., £6.99 (paper). For Detective Inspector Hideo Aoki of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the sprinklings of misfortune have...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 16, 2006
Vietvets come in from the cold war
THE LAST ASSASSIN by Barry Eisler. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2006, 334 pp., $24.95 (cloth). WHITE TIGER by Michael Allen Dymmoch. St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005, 308 pp., $24.95 (cloth). THE TUNNEL RATS by Stephen Leather. Hodder and Stoughton, 2005, 501 pp., £6.99 (paper). John Rain, Barry Eisler's American-Japanese...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 18, 2006
The lore and legend of Asian lawmen
"The Calf Strung Up beneath The Cart" will cause you agony profound; "The Ass tied tightly to The Post" will make you scream and leap around; "The Phoenix drying both her Wings" to death itself will bring you near; "The Boy who Sits and Contemplates," the stoutest soul will cause to fear; And if "The...
CULTURE / Books
May 28, 2006
American intrigues disrupt quiet of Singapore and Seoul
THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE by Jake Needham. Hong Kong: Prime Crime Press, 2006, 349 pp., £10 (paper). MORTAL ALLIES by Brian Haig. New York: Warner Vision Books, 2002, 580 pp., $6.99 (paper). When a maid finds the nude corpse of a Western female in a suite in Singapore's Marriott Hotel, all hell breaks...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 23, 2006
Making certain of a positive I.D.
Last weekend, I visited three major retail outlets in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to inquire about the purchase of a cell phone.
LIFE / Language
May 16, 2006
Baseball scoreless in language bout with sumo
When describing efforts by foreigners to gain a foothold in Japan, author/commentator and former president of ASI Market Research (Japan), Inc., George Fields, liked to apply the analogy of pro baseball players and sumo wrestlers. The former, for reasons we shall see, were held up as outsiders who forever...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 23, 2006
Two theaters of the Asian absurd
THIRTY-THREE TEETH by Colin Cotterill. New York: Soho Press, 2005, 238 pp., $24 (cloth). FAN-TAN by Marlon Brando and Donald Cammell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 249 pp., $23.95 (cloth). Novels set in Asia that combine crime and detection with touches of humor are not especially numerous, but the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 26, 2006
Mystery and intrigue preserved in translation
MY NAME IS RED by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Erdag Goknar. London: Faber & Faber Ltd., 2002, 508 pp., £7.99 (paper). CROSSFIRE by Miyuki Miyabe, translated by Deborah Stuhr Iwabuchi and Anna Husson Isozaki. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 404 pp., 2,600 yen (cloth). "A city's intellect,"...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 26, 2006
Current events frame detective plots
MOGHUL BUFFET by Cheryl Benard. New York: Soho Crime, 1998, 264 pp., $12 (paper). THE TYPHOON LOVER by Sujata Massey. New York: HarperCollins, 2005, 306 pp., $23.95 (cloth). "I like Pakistan," writes Cheryl Benard. "I want to say that right at the outset, to avoid any misunderstandings. Its cities are...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 19, 2006
Back in time with a legend reborn
Fifty years ago this week -- when Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama was reopening diplomatic relations with Moscow; bullet trains or expressways had yet to be built; and a bank staffer's monthly pay was about 25,000 yen -- Tokyo publisher Shinchosha launched the weekly Shukan Shincho, priced at 30 yen....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 22, 2006
When notoriety helps sell books
TOPPAMONO: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld, by Manabu Miyazaki. Tokyo: Kotan Publishing, 2005, 460 pp., $26.95 (cloth). THE APPRENTICE by Lewis Libby. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, St. Martin edition, 2005, 265 pp., $12.95 (paper). Japan's student movement ended with a whimper...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005
There's no morning calm for Korean crime stories
THE DOOR TO BITTERNESS by Martin Limon. New York: Soho Press Inc., 2005, 278 pp., $23 (cloth). FADE TO CLEAR by Leonard Chang. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, 322 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DARK ANGEL by Geoffrey Archer. London: Arrow Books, 2005, 482 pp., £6.99 (paper). It's 1973, and Sergeants George...
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Human bone-like objects found at Nippon Steel plant’s molten iron pot, with one worker missing
Police believe it’s highly possible that human bones found in a molten iron pot at Nippon Steel's Oita factory belong to a missing male employee.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Man suspected of using smart glasses to cheat on Waseda University exams
The Waseda University campus in Tokyo. An 18-year-old male test-taker is suspected of using smart glasses to cheat during the university's entrance exam.
Japanese billionaire sues Meta over investment scams using his image
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.

Podcast

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

Longform

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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