Photojournalist and author Stephen Mansfield’s work has appeared in over 70 publications worldwide, on subjects ranging from conflict in the Middle East to cultural analysis, interviews and book reviews. A longtime Japan Times contributor, his latest book is “Japan’s Master Gardens: Lessons in Space & Environment.”
For Stephen Mansfield's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
What we learn by the end of this urbanely written, empirically tested book is that Bushido is not merely a set of strategies for combat but a system of thinking eminently suited to preparing us for life and all its concealed hazards.
Okinawa at times is like heaven and hell in equal measures: tropical beaches next to ammunition dumps. A garrison island where people come to take vacations, the most politicized region of Japan can seem like being teleported back to the agitprop heyday of the ...
Japan's passion for the modern coexists with aesthetic proclivities that favor antiquity and refinement. Wabi Sabi: The Art of Impermanence, by Andrew Juniper.176 pages TUTTLE, Nonfiction. One expression of the appreciation for age and beauty is the much-cherished effect known as wabi-sabi, the subject of Andrew Juniper's ...
The early morning light on this summer day, illuminating the under canopies of trees and sending warm, golden strobes across the oyster cafes over the embankments of the Kyobashi River, is enchanting. A fan-shaped city divided by seven deltaic waterways, Hiroshima sits on six islands ...
The Japanese novel has taken some interesting twists and turns in the post-bubble era, but quality has often been the price of experimentation. Dream Messenger, by Masahiko Shimada, Translated by Philip Gabriel.293 pages TIME WARNER, Fiction. Masahiko Shimada's novel "Dream Messenger," which focuses on a mother's search ...
It wasn't immediately clear what the man tossing large pebbles at the torii of a shrine was trying to achieve. What appeared to be the desecration of a religious structure, with the vocal encouragement of his wife, turned out to be related to superstition, the ...
Based on the true story of a stock trader, the 1965 novel "The Informer" is remarkably prescient in describing the greed and venality that was, two decades later, to become a hallmark of the delirious days of Japan's bubble-era economy. The Informer, by Akimitsu Takagi, ...
The rituals, theatrical constructs and sartorial styles connected to this ancient martial art may seem visually arresting to the uninitiated, but as "Discover Sumo" tells us, there is much more to Japan's national sport than meets the eye. Discover Sumo: Stories from Yobidashi Hideo, by ...
It is almost impossible to find a serious novel that does not touch on the subject of death. "In the Woods of Memory," taking for its theme the death of the soul, is no exception. In the Woods of Memory, by Shun Medoruma, Translated by ...
The woman from Ethiopia, resplendent in a scarlet headdress and gold ear pendants, blended in splendidly with the vast dune plateau. This was not Africa, however, but a unique wind corridor along the Tottori coast where great drifts of sand, attracting curious visitors from all ...
