Michael Hoffman is a fiction and nonfiction writer who has lived in Hokkaido by the sea almost as long as he can remember. He has been contributing regularly to The Japan Times for 10 years. His latest novel is "The Naked Ear" (VBW/Blackcover Books, 2012).
For Michael Hoffman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A gifted child's talents go to waste as a result of his ethnicity. Falling into a life of despair, he lashes out in revenge. How would his situation be treated nearly 100 years later?
COVID-19 hasn't (so far) affected Japan as badly as other Western countries, but sometimes extreme situations can push people to get up and try to improve their lots in life.
When did you last tell a fib? Go on … be honest.
People thronged European-style cafes and breathed new air with new lungs. At the center of it all were the "mobo" and "moga": modern boys and girls, respectively.
Buddhist priest Myoyu Tamaoki describes the world in terms hard to argue with. “Calm,” she says, “is elusive.” Disaster, ruin and upheaval, if not hitting you personally at any given moment, may strike the next, as a glance at news of them hyperactive elsewhere ...
The ultimate relaxation, says one magazine, is not idleness but suitable activity — doing what you want, which does take courage.
Inspired by the ‘Manyoshu,’ a peasant-poet took the Japanese capital by eloquent storm.
More than half of the nationwide hikikomori population of 1.15 million are between 40 and 64 years old.
Does academic success lead to happiness? Weekly magazine Shukan Gendai offers a cautionary tale …
One generation’s knowledge is the next generation’s folly.
