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May 06, 2024
 

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Iain Maloney
For Iain Maloney's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 9, 2015
'The Last Shogun' is a rare translation of Ryotaro Shiba's historical fiction
Ryotaro Shiba was one of Japan's most popular writers of historical fiction, described in Frank Gibney's introduction to "The Last Shogun" as "Japan's national writer ... his name on a book virtually guarantees a wide readership."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 9, 2015
Legendary translator Jay Rubin's novel 'The Sun Gods' evokes horror of internment camps
Set between 1939 and 1963, "The Sun Gods" tells the story of Tom Morton, a Seattle pastor and widower, who falls in love with Japanese immigrant Mitsuko Fukai. They marry but their happiness is soon shattered by the attack on Pearl Harbor and Tom's reaction to it. Years later, his son Bill attempts to discover Tom's bitterly guarded secrets, a quest that inevitably takes him to Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 25, 2015
Banana Yoshimoto's magical realist rumination on life and death
Amrita, a Sanskrit word that literally means "immortality," is the name of Banana Yoshimoto's strange 1994 novel. It's an essentially plotless tale, but deeply affecting in its blend of ennui and hope.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 11, 2015
'Salad Anniversary' comes dripping with honesty
My entry to Japanese poetry was, I suspect, similar to most. It began with Matsuo Basho; anthologies by R. H. Blyth and Kenneth Rexroth; haiku by Edo Period (1603-1868) monks; and tanka by Heian Period (794-1185 ) noblewomen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 11, 2015
'The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash' reveals a minefield of political opportunism
The relationship between Japan and South Korea is a minefield of historical wrongs and political opportunism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 4, 2015
Mishima's weakling in a world of military machismo in 'Confessions of a Mask'
'Confessions of a Mask' is Yukio Mishima's second novel, published in 1949.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 28, 2015
The messy, lonesome worlds of Risa Wataya
In 2003, two young female authors won the Akutagawa Prize — arguably the most important literary prize in Japan. One winner was 21-year-old Hitomi Kanehara for her novel "Snakes and Earrings" ("Hebi ni Piasu"); the other was Risa Wataya, who was only 19 at the time — the youngest winner of the prize at the time — for her novel "I Want to Kick You in the Back" ("Keritai Senaka").
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 14, 2015
A Personal Matter
In the 1960s, Kenzaburo Oe began regularly writing about a character based on his autistic son, Hikari.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 7, 2015
An Artist of the Floating World
Released in 1986, this relatively short novel is dense with ideas and possibilities. Set in Japan in the late 1940s, the story is narrated by Masuji Ono, a celebrated painter who once created propaganda for the Imperial Army. He now finds himself labeled a traitor by the younger generation, a reputation that threatens to derail his youngest daughter's forthcoming marriage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 7, 2015
The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, "The Buried Giant," is his best book to date. It's a masterpiece of refined storytelling shot through with deep empathy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 28, 2015
War and National Reinvention
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, a conflict which many of Asia's current foreign policy headaches grew out of. It's strange then that the role East Asia played in the Great War has often been overlooked by commentators. In that context, Frederick R. Dickinson's "War and National Reinvention" is an important link in the chain for readers of modern Japanese history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 21, 2015
An embattled Japan engages a hostile world
It has been an eventful year for Japan since David Pilling's "Bending Adversity" was published to critical acclaim. For many, including its reviewer in The Japan Times, the book was considered one of the year's — if not the decade's — best books about Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 14, 2015
Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy: The Story of Kawashima Yoshiko, the Cross-Dressing Spy Who Commanded Her Own Army
Yoshiko Kawashima's life has been the subject of novels, soap operas and movies since the 1920s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 7, 2015
Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War with Japan
Richard Connaughton's "Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear" is a detailed study of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, the first war where an Asian power defeated a European power since the Mongol invasion of the 13th century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 10, 2015
Life of a Counterfeiter
Yasushi Inoue's "Life of a Counterfeiter," translated by Michael Emmerich, contains three stories: the eponymous novella and two shorter pieces, "Reeds" and "Mr Goodall's Gloves."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 13, 2014
Deep River
In "Deep River" a group of elderly Japanese tourists and a couple join a tour of holy Buddhist sites in India. Motivated by different forms of grief and guilt, each is searching for healing. The narrative involves four main characters: Isobe, recently widowed, Kiguchi, a war veteran haunted by memories of Burma, Numada, a writer recovering from a serious illness, and Mitsuko, a cynical nurse searching for a heretical priest she knew in her youth.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 13, 2014
Night Boat
"Night Boat" is Alan Spence's second novel set in Japan, but his first to deal entirely with Japanese characters and situations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 29, 2014
Crafting words with Osamu Dazai's translator
Two of the most successful Japanese novels of the past few years that have been translated into English are Hiromi Kawakami's "The Briefcase" and Fuminori Nakamura's "Last Winter, We Parted." Both were translated by Allison Markin Powell, a literary translator and editor based in New York.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 1, 2014
Fuminori writes noir, but not as we know it
Fuminori Nakamura has won many of the major literary prizes in Japan and is quickly making the same kind of impact in the English-speaking world. His third novel to be translated into English, "Last Winter, We Parted," is out now. It's a tense, layered story centered around a young writer commissioned by his editor to write about photographer Yudai Kiharazaka, in prison for murdering two women.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2010
Getting JAL on its feet
Japan Airlines Corp. on Nov. 30 received approval from the Tokyo District Court for its reconstruction plan. JAL achieved a consolidated operating profit of ¥132.7 billion in the April-October period helped by a strong yen and a temporary upturn in the Japanese economy.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Kishida talks up bolstered Latin American ties as China cements position
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Japan’s tween skateboarders get head start on preparations for 2028 Olympics
Ibuki Matsumoto competes at an event in Osaka on April 21.
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
Kishida talks up bolstered Latin American ties as China cements position
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.

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

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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