author

 
Menu
Search
 
June 30, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@ericdmargolis

Eric Margolis
Eric Margolis is a writer, book editor and translator from Japanese who is based in Tokyo. His writing has been published in The Japan Times, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Slate, The New Republic, Tokyo Weekender and elsewhere.
Watermelon is a favorite choice for beating the heat during a Japanese summer.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 26, 2026
Summer in Japan: The language and flavors of staying cool
From watermelon and shaved ice to riverside barbecues, discover how Japan stays cool while temperatures soar.
“Whispering Rooms” is a novel based on the real experiences of tidying guru Marie Kondo, co-written with filmmaker and author Genki Kawamura.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 21, 2026
Tidying guru Marie Kondo and ‘Exit 8’ director team up for a cozy fiction book
An unlikely collaboration between tidying guru Marie Kondo and filmmaker and author Genki Kawamura plays with the tropes of the popular cozy fiction genre.
Cafe Phosphorescence, owned by Osamu Dazai fan Miyuki Daba, is located about 15 minutes away from where the novelist used to live.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 15, 2026
In Tokyo’s Mitaka, a search for traces of Osamu Dazai
The novelist’s hometown honors his memory, but with many buildings demolished, a pilgrimage is an exercise in imagination.
Toyota's bZ4X electric vehicle at an international car show in Indonesia in August 2023. At 10% of Japan’s economy, the automotive industry is a pillar of the nation.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 24, 2026
Japan’s automotive industry is driving — slowly — toward a greener future
While major carmakers have committed to cut emissions, the industry’s slow shift to EVs means that it faces a high hurdle if it wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Jimbocho, Tokyo’s book town, has gained popularity online and some travel companies are already selling book-centric tours for foreign visitors.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 20, 2026
Now on the multilingual margins, can Japanese bookstores be more than just a vibe?
While some travel companies are now offering book-centric tours around Jimbocho, foreign visitors are often leaving bookstores empty-handed, despite intentions to buy books.
People admire the Kajimoto Family wisteria trellis during the Shindachijuku Wisteria Festival in Sennan, Osaka.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 16, 2026
After Japan’s cherry blossoms fade, spring keeps blooming
The fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms gives way to a rolling season of color, vocabulary and new ways to describe change.
New and old long-distance hiking trails hope to draw tourists from crowded cities to unhurried rural regions.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 4, 2026
‘If you walk, you will see’: National parks bet on trekking tourists
Multiday hikes through Japan’s most rural stretches aim to benefit locals and visitors alike.
Literary translation is one of humanity’s most crucial tasks — one that should never be left to the machines.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2026
Lost in AI translation: What’s at stake? Our humanity.
Literary translation is one of humanity’s most crucial tasks — one that should never be left to the machines.
As Japan accelerates AI adoption, policymakers and corporations frame the technology as essential to offsetting a projected labor shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 2, 2026
Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.
Surveys show strong public confidence, despite shallow workplace adoption and unresolved cultural concerns.
Tokyo’s Jimbocho neighborhood has all kinds of bookshops and cafes, but it is mainly known for its abundance of stores selling secondhand books.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 2, 2026
Inside a Japanese bookshop: Words you need to browse in Jimbocho
Decode shelving systems, publisher groupings and reader slang before making the most of Tokyo’s famed literary district.
W. David Marx’s new book, "Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century," argues radical cultural innovation has become increasingly scarce.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 21, 2026
The critic who ruffled pop culture’s feathers
In “Blank Space,” W. David Marx questions the 21st century’s creative vitality and responds to critics who say he’s too cynical.
Japanese trains are usually full of advertisements that all fight for your attention.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2026
How Japanese advertising breaks grammar to get your attention
Japanese advertising may look chaotic, but the strange grammar, puns and omissions are carefully engineered to grab your attention.
A fishing boat sails out to sea in Tosa Bay off Kochi Prefecture in May 2022. As the planet warms, fish native to Japanese waters are swimming from south to north in pursuit of their desired temperatures.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jan 11, 2026
How Japan’s warming seas are affecting livelihoods and culture
As climate change forces fish to migrate to cooler waters, culture and jobs are being left behind in their wake.
There are more tools in the Japanese songwriter's toolbox than rhymes alone.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 19, 2025
Why Japanese musicians don’t need rhymes to sing
Japanese pop rarely relies on rhyme. Instead, its lyrics draw power from mora-based rhythm, repetition, sound symbolism and traditional poetic devices.
Located just one stop away from Shinjuku on the Yamanote Line, Shin-Okubo has long been known as Tokyo’s Koreatown — but in recent years, a range of immigrant communities from across the Asian continent have made it a hotspot for food, services and even spirituality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 24, 2025
A perfect day in Shin-Okubo, more than just Tokyo’s Koreatown
Long known as Tokyo’s Korean enclave, Shin-Okubo has grown even more multicultural over the years in everything from its restaurant options to its spiritual sites.
Noh theater uses several types of masks, including the "onna" (woman) mask.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 6, 2025
Learning to feel noh: The words that unlock its mystery and emotion
Noh theater’s mystery and emotion unfold through careful understanding of the language used.
While Kyoto's Kiyomizu Temple is a famous spot for viewing the autumn foliage, Japan has no shortage of colorful forests.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 16, 2025
The what, where and when of Japan’s autumn leaves
Autumn in Japan is a lesson in color and language — learn how to ask the right questions when it comes to hunting fall foliage.
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 28, 2025
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
The growth could have major effects on both Japan’s standing in the fight against climate change and its industrial competitiveness on the world stage.
An illustration of a scene from the fourth act of "Aoto Zōshi Hana no Nishiki-e" by Toyokuni Utagawa III (1862).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 26, 2025
Take your first steps into the world of kabuki with these basic terms
The language of Japanese theater is full of double — even triple — meanings. Knowing the terminology is the first step in understanding it.
Located in Nagano Prefecture, Samurai Gakuen tries to help young and old individuals who have withdrawn from society rediscover their places out in the world.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 31, 2025
How ‘hikikomori’ shut-ins ‘start to have dreams for the future’
As many as 1.5 million “hikikomori” shut-ins withdraw from social life in Japan, but one school in Nagano is finding success is coaxing them back into the world.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER