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May 02, 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:
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 skills as a master of the genre.
Japan Times
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 Ikegami providing commentary."
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 Times
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 Times
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 the Emperor and other leaders mourn war victims at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
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.
Japan Times
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 16, 2018
Japan's never-ending struggle to keep poverty at bay
The first coverage of poverty in Japan's weekly business magazines may be traced back the spring of 2009, when Weekly Diamond, in its March 21 cover story, purported to expose "The poverty you don't know." The timing of the issue came six months after the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers brokerage the previous September.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 2, 2018
Dirty football tackle creates a perfect storm for news outlets to exploit
Former Nihon University football head coach Masato Uchida's alleged order on a player to "crush" an opposing team's quarterback in a May 6 game between Japan's traditional rivals for supremacy in American football has dominated sports and tabloid headlines for most of the second half of May.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 28, 2018
The 'Mao suit': One outfit for the people, but with many names
The English-language media recently described North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un as wearing a 'Mao suit,' but no one in East Asia would refer to it this way.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 19, 2018
Disgraced scientist Haruko Obokata back in public eye with photo spread in weekly magazine
'Hello, Bunshun-san. Yesterday I wrote in my diary that, 'Well, it's come to this, that I am working with you.'"
'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.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
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.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
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.
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.

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

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

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