Journalist/book editor/translator. Edits Usotoki Rhetoric, Captain Corinth, more. Culture and climate. Japan Times, Vox, Slate. One of the socialist Jews.
Articles by Eric Dion Margolis
Cracking the code of Japanese literature one kanji at a time
Reading Japanese literature in the original isn’t your average walk in the park. Research shows that literature contains a higher frequency of diverse and rare kanji than any other genre. In my own experience, the 漢字 (kanji, Chinese characters) and 単語 (tango, vocabulary) pose the greatest challenges. There are so many that it feels like I’ll never learn them all. A few unfamiliar words clustered together can leave me helplessly lost at sea. What to do then?
Japan’s booming tourism industry struggling to improve sustainability
Finding harmony with nature in the pearlescent waters of Oku-Matsushima’s oyster farms. Tucking into dishes made with unique alpine vegetables in the sacred hills of Dewa Sanzan. Forest bathing, imbibing in local sake and relaxing in wood-fired saunas nestled in Okutama’s lush mountains. This is just a sampling of recent promotions for ecotourism destinations in Japan as destinations jostle to grab the attention of an annual influx of 40 million foreign visitors.
How to get a start in reading books in Japanese
You’ve learned hiragana, you know some kanji, you can follow a conversation in Japanese. Now you want to read a 本 (hon, book) — but what kind of 本 should you pick up? The good news is that there are plenty of options for language learners. 日本文学が盛り上がっている (Nihon bungaku ga moriagatte-iru, Japanese literature is flourishing). And that’s not just from the perspective of Japanese books in English translation.
Cruel summer: Searching for an escape from Japan’s extreme heat
Is there any escaping Japan’s summer 酷暑 (kokusho, extreme heat)? In April, the 気象庁 (kishōchō, Japan Meteorological Agency) released a bulletin titled 最高気温が40度以上の日の名称を「酷暑日」に決定 (Saikō kion ga yonjū-do ijō no hi no meishō o “kokusho-bi” ni kettei, The name “intense heat day” has been officially adopted for days when the maximum temperature reaches 40 degrees Celsius or higher).
The creator of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ has advice for the anime industry
“Lazarus” is Shinichiro Watanabe’s most stylized show yet. That may sound like hyperbole for the veteran anime director known for fusing space-opera grandeur with jazzy rhythms in “Cowboy Bebop” and a samurai storyline with hip-hop aesthetics in “Samurai Champloo” — but in this case, it’s objectively true.
Summer in Japan: The language and flavors of staying cool
June 21 was 夏至 (geshi, the summer solstice), the official first day of 夏 (natsu, summer). From now on, the one word you’ll start hearing more of will probably be 暑い (atsui, hot). When temperatures climb above 30 degrees Celsius, the body reacts. Blood pressure drops, meaning the heart must work harder to circulate blood throughout the body. Profuse sweating cools the skin and muscles while draining fluids and salt.
Cozy fiction meets the magic of tidying up
Japanese cozy fiction, often involving quiet musings and conversations unfolding inside bookstores and coffee shops, is currently the country’s biggest literary trend captivating the West. A decade ago, that soft cultural power belonged to books and shows about the Japanese way of tidying up. “Whispering Rooms,” published this spring in English translation by Cathy Hirano, blends both in a novel co-authored by Marie Kondo and Genki Kawamura. Whispering Rooms, by Genki Kawamura and Marie Kondo.
The search for Osamu Dazai’s memory in his hometown Mitaka
Old book musk and quiet jazz fill the air in a sleepy cafe deep within residential Mitaka in the west of Tokyo. Every corner is decked out in Osamu Dazai memorabilia, and a few central bookshelves boast rare first editions of his books. The novelist’s iconic portrait — face poised in deep thought, hand cradling his cheek — is drawn in chocolate on the foam of the cafe latte in front of me.
Japan’s automotive industry is driving — slowly — toward a greener future
As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues, the Japanese government is spending up to ¥500 billion per month to keep gasoline and other fuel prices artificially low. According to estimates as of April, the subsidy could run out by June and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is now considering an extra outlay, in part to cushion consumers from rising energy prices.
Now on the multilingual margins, can Japanese bookstores be more than just a vibe?
Jimbocho may be the coolest neighborhood in the world according to Time Out magazine, but you wouldn’t know it on a rainy Wednesday. In between drowsy secondhand bookstores and aromatic curry restaurants, a few black-suited salarymen hoist up their umbrellas on the way to the next meeting. Behind them, two European tourists search for their destination.
Japan in New York
New York City: home of the world’s fourth largest Japanese diaspora after Los Angeles, Bangkok, and Shanghai. But it is perhaps the single biggest locus of Japanese culture outside of the archipelago. Japan thrives in the Big Apple. There are now well over 1,000 Japanese restaurants across the city, plus the bustling stalls of lantern-decorated Japan Village and the world’s largest Japanese food festival.
After Japan's cherry blossoms fade, spring keeps blooming
There’s a turn of phrase in Japanese, 現実に引き戻される (genjitsu ni hikimodosareru), which means “to be pulled back to reality.” I find it’s an apt way to describe the post-cherry blossoms crash. After two weeks of 花見 (hanami, flower-viewing) and all the accompanying socializing, drinking and fun under the spring sun, suddenly, it’s over: 現実に引き戻されちゃった (genjitsu ni hikimodosarechatta, it’s totally back to reality).
‘If you walk, you will see’: National parks bet on trekking tourists
Japan’s tourism boom — recently hauling in an incredible — is not hitting all areas equally. While over 50% of foreign tourists visit Tokyo and nearly 40% see Osaka, only 2.9% go to Nagano Prefecture, home of the Japanese Alps. Just 1.2% visit Miyagi, the economic and cultural center of the northeast Tohoku region, and a mere 0.5% venture deeper into prefectures like Yamagata and Fukushima.
Lost in AI translation: What’s at stake? Our humanity.
According to a recent article in The New York Times, you no longer need to learn Japanese to connect with locals in Tokyo. Invest 2,000 hours to achieve fluency? Forget that — all you need is a pair of trusty AirPods and Apple’s new live translation feature. A tap of a screen and the iPhone will record and produce an automatically translated manuscript of your conversation, handy dandy for a night out on Golden Gai. It’s a feature that makes my heart sink.
Japan’s Best Seaside Towns: Our Ranking of the Most Idyllic
When Edo Period Japan’s most accomplished cartographer, Inō Tadataka, set out in 1800 to complete a 1:216,000 map of the entire coastline of Japan, he was embarking on a task of truly monstrous proportions. Japan has over 18,000 miles of coastline. The minute, fine-grained turns of Japan’s thousands of oceans, bays, inlets, lagoons, and islands create a continent-sized jigsaw puzzle. So when Tadakata died in 1818, the task was left unfinished.
Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.
When Hayao Miyazaki was shown an artificial intelligence system capable of generating crude animation in 2016, his response was blunt: “I am utterly disgusted.” The Studio Ghibli co-founder — whose films include the 1997 epic “Princess Mononoke” and the 2001 Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” — also called the demonstration “an insult to life itself.” The remark, delivered with visible contempt, quickly became a rallying cry for skeptics of machine-made art.
Inside a Japanese bookshop: Words you need to browse in Jimbocho
When Jimbocho was named the “coolest neighborhood in the world” by Time Out magazine in 2025, a lot of locals were surprised. Located in central Tokyo, Jimbocho is primarily known for its abundance of 本屋 (honya, bookshops), also called 書店 (shoten, bookshops). Still, for those who cannot read Japanese, an experience there can feel limited. Is a bookshop destination truly “cool” if the books themselves are inaccessible?
“It’s been my most controversial book yet,” W. David Marx says, sipping a coffee in a bright and airy Harajuku cafe. “It doesn’t matter how much you can steel yourself to getting negative reviews — it’s not fun to read them.” To be clear, Marx’s new book, “Blank Space,” is a cultural history of the 21st century with the simple but persuasive thesis that, under advanced global capitalism, radical forms of cultural innovation are scarcer than ever before.
Japan’s Best Mountain Towns for a Peaceful Getaway
Japan is over 80% mountainous. That’s a heck of a lot of mountains, from soaring, snowcapped Mt. Fuji, to quaintly rolling green hills, to active volcanoes burbling and sizzling with deadly gases. These mountains hold crucial ecological and economic roles, supplying Japanese civilization with fresh water, lumber, stone, ore, game, and other crucial resources. They’re also cultural foundations, at the heart of Japanese spirituality and identity.
The Best Bagels in Japan
Bagel sandwich wrapped The slightly sweet and oh-so holey bagel lies at the very center of who I am. My hometown, Philadelphia, is a Jewish bagel paradise second only to New York, and there is no doubt that one of the hardest parts of life in Japan is the lack of access to a proper bagel: warm and fresh out of the oven, dense and yet soft; hand-rolled, so a little lumpy.
How Japanese advertising breaks grammar to get your attention
Japanese 宣伝 (senden, advertisements) can seem messy and overwhelming. Internet ads are chaotic, television commercials can seem downright bizarre and anyone who rides a train has seen posters with floating heads, dense kanji and a blizzard of exclamation points. As with any advanced capitalist society, however, the art of コピーライティング (kopīraitingu, copywriting) in Japan has been exhaustively studied.
How Japan’s warming seas are affecting livelihoods and culture
Amberjack are swimming up to Hokkaido. Salmon are heading to Sakhalin. And brightly colored crimson sea bream are migrating from the tropics to the waters of the Izu Peninsula. As the planet warms, fish native to Japanese waters are swimming from south to north in pursuit of their desired temperatures, wreaking change on the nation’s regional diets and culture in the process.
Why Japanese musicians don’t need rhymes to sing
Great 歌詞 (kashi, lyrics) often hinge on one simple device: 脚韻 (kyakuin, end rhyme). The Beatles knew it, and their song “The End” makes the point clearly: “And in the end the love you take / is equal to the love you make. ” End rhyme is the English-language songwriter’s most fundamental tool. Parallel structure, repetition, assonance — all of it is pulled together by rhyming line endings. Almost every English pop song relies on it, and it’s part of what makes a song feel like a song.
A perfect day in Shin-Okubo, more than just Tokyo’s Koreatown
East of Shin-Okubo Station, fluorescent lights beam over immaculate rows of pop idol merchandise and imported skincare products while teenage girls line up outside for coin-shaped, cheese-filled buns. On the west side, ads in a jumble of languages telegraph Asian cosmopolitanism along with the crowds of workers lining up for their favorite kebab, curry or banh mi.
Learning to feel noh: The words that unlock its mystery and emotion
The experience of 能楽 (nōgaku, noh theater) is difficult to describe. When you see this ancient Japanese performance art — masked deities and demons, slow and arrhythmic chanting, fiercely clattering dances that suddenly come to a halt — the first word that might come to mind is 不思議 (fushigi). This common word refers to things that are mysterious and unknowable, strange and incomprehensible, illogical or even a little upsetting.
The what, where and when of Japan’s autumn leaves
Anyone who lives in Japan knows that the seasons are a big deal, with 花見 (hanami, cherry blossom viewing) and 月見 (tsukimi, moon viewing) among the popular activities that celebrate them. From now until around the middle of December, you’ll be able to take part in autumn’s main event: 紅葉を見に行く (kōyō o mi ni iku, going to see the autumn leaves). The traditional phrase for this occasion is 紅葉狩り (momijigari), which has the nuance of going into the mountains to see wild autumn leaves.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
The rise of generative artificial intelligence is causing a massive surge in electricity consumption by data centers around the world, with such centers projected to consume 3% of global energy by 2030 if current trends continue, according to the International Energy Agency. And that is almost certainly going to hold true in Japan, the premier data center destination in Asia.
A language built on the wind, from mountain gusts to wind chimes
July in Tokyo brought regular highs of 35 degrees Celsius coupled with sauna-level humidity. Most of us are desperate for relief in the form of some 風 (kaze, wind). I could really go for a 涼風 (ryōfū, cool, refreshing breeze) or a pleasant 海風 (umikaze, sea breeze), but I secretly dream of a 滝風 (takikaze, wind caused by a large waterfall). As long as they don’t cause any damage, I’d even settle for a 突風 (toppū, sudden gust) or a 強風 (kyōfū, strong wind).
Take your first steps into the world of kabuki with these basic terms
Want to plunge into some of the most compelling elements of Japanese culture? 求めているものは舞台にある (Matomete-iru mono wa butai ni aru, What you’re looking for is on the stage). From the demons of 能 (noh) to the puppets of 文楽 (bunraku), Japanese theater teems with moving stories — especially within the ostentatious culture of 歌舞伎 (kabuki). Unfortunately, this kind of theater isn’t that easy to experience in English. Scholars and cultural experts have long lamented over how these productions are translated.
How ‘hikikomori’ shut-ins ‘start to have dreams for the future’
Yusuke Morishima is the vice president of Quietude, a company based in Nagano that provides services in everything from translation, interpretation, counseling and consulting to job recruiting. But as of 2019, he had been a hikikomori — a social recluse who rarely leaves their home or makes contact with others — for five years. “Being in a large group was always exhausting to me,” says Morishima, 33. “I was overly concerned about the people around me, and it really affected my mental health.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?
It wasn’t the heat of the sun that stopped me in my tracks on a Shinjuku street — it was the absence of shade. I had just gotten back from a visit to Nagoya, where I once lived amid smokestacks and train lines. For the first time in years, I made a pilgrimage to see the Giant Camphor Tree that grows on the grounds of Atsuta Shrine. Its hulking, thousand-year-old limbs capture the strong sunlight and cast it soft and dappled, as if its leaves were green stained glass, onto those below.
Manga translators walk a fine line between meaning and mayhem
Translating manga might seem like a dream job — until the フレーミング (furēmingu, “flaming” or online abuse) starts. Professional translators for such manga titles as “One Piece” and “My Hero Academia” have faced major harassment for their decisions. These highly publicized online feuds can get pretty fierce, especially when identity politics get involved.
Japan’s slam poetry scene is all about raw vulnerability
Yuuri Miki reads her poems with a fierceness and softness — deep breaths and an edge to her voice that cuts like a knife. Reading poetry aloud is an art, a skill that made her Japan national slam poetry champion twice, in 2017 and 2018. Today, she is a board member of the World Poetry Slam Organization.
How to spend the perfect day in Hiroo, Tokyo’s expat enclave
Looking for a day of relaxation? Then head to Hiroo, arguably the swankiest residential neighborhood in central Tokyo. Just one stop from Ebisu Station on the Hibiya Line, Hiroo is an enclave on the border of Shibuya and Minato wards known for its international consulates and chic expat lifestyle. But is everything as effortless and glamorous as it seems? Try this itinerary to see if Hiroo lives up to its reputation. The perfect day in Hiroo starts with freshly baked bread.
Attempting the classics: The world of waka poetry
They are the words you’re bound to hear at graduation ceremonies and sporting events: 君が代は、千代に八千代に、さざれ石の、巌となりて、苔のむすまで (Kimi ga yo wa, chiyo ni yachiyo ni, sazare ishi no, iwa to narite, koke no musu made).
Japan’s youth climate activists still searching for a breakthrough
On the second Friday of every month, a small group gathers. In February, it was in front of the industry ministry’s annex building, just a stone’s throw away from the plum blossoms unfurling in pink and white at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park.
‘May You Have Delicious Meals’: The ugly taste of office and gender politics
Junko Takase holds no bars when it comes to perturbing her readers. “The fresh cream filled his mouth. It penetrated to the back of his teeth... Juice gushed out. Every time he chewed, it made a vulgar sound: nghaa. Fresh cream smeared on his tongue...
Jose Ando's rapid rise from first pages to the Akutagawa Prize
Three years is all it took for Jose Ando to go from writing his first pages of fiction to winning the most prestigious literary prize in Japan.
Attempting the classics: Deciphering impermanence in ‘Hojoki’
It’s one of the most famous lines in Japanese literature, and it comes from a piece of writing titled “Hojoki”: 行く河の流れは絶えずして、しかももとの水にあらず (Yuku kawa no nagare wa taezu shite, shikamo moto no mizu ni arazu, The river does not cease flowing, moreover, nor does its water stay as it was). Take a close look at the sentence. Can you recognize the kanji?
Japanese ski vocabulary: Hit the books before you hit the slopes
Without a doubt, one of the most epic things to do in Japan is スキー. And no, that’s not 好き (suki, like/love), but sukī (skiing) — although falling in love is certainly up there, too. Given the famous powder and countless mountains and resorts from Hiroshima to Hokkaido, you can’t go wrong with スキー and スノーボード (sunōbōdo, snowboarding) in 冬 (fuyu, winter). In all honesty, these are not activities that require a ton of Japanese knowledge.
Fresh Ink: Saho Terao - Metropolis Japan
All of the articles in our Fresh Ink series highlight the English-language debuts of never-before-translated works of prominent Japanese writers. Saho Terao is a musician and writer who floats between the real and the ethereal.
The Japanese you need to get vaccinated before winter comes
As of the final week in October, the newest round of COVID-19 vaccinations were starting to be administered in Japan, and the virus was still very much present around the country. Japan had around 8,000 active cases of 新型コロナウイルス (shingata koronauirusu, COVID-19) and over 800 hospitalized with severe infections — though these numbers are also down from both one month and one full year ago. This 減少 (genshō, decrease) is the good news. The bad news?
The English-language debut of philosopher Masaya Chiba Metropolis Japan
Masaya Chiba is one of Japan’s foremost philosophers and authors. He is a noted expert on Gilles Deleuze and has written best-selling works of popular philosophy and award-winning queer fiction, including a nomination for the Akutagawa Prize. His writings have yet to receive English translations, marking this small but extraordinary excerpt from his essay collection Imi Ga Nai Muimi(“Meaninglessness Without Meaning”) as the English debut of the philosopher.
How your favorite Japanese video games are translated into English
Translating video games can lead to surprising linguistic innovation. When Jeremy Blaustein had to translate “現地調達” (genchi chōtatsu, local acquisitions) for Metal Gear Solid, he coined the term OSP or “on-site procurement,” a term that went on to be used by other games and continues to be used today. Video game translation can also be political and controversial.
Comets and constellations: The language of stargazing
星を眺める (Hoshi o nagameru, to gaze at the stars), 天体観測 (tentai kansoku, astronomical observation) — while stars are the same everywhere, the words used to describe them are very different. There are so many things to see up there in the 夜空 (yozora, night sky), also known as 宇宙 (uchū, outer space) in Japanese, that if you’d like to take part in a good stargazing session, you’ll need a few basic tools — and, of course, some space-related vocabulary. Most importantly, we have 星 (hoshi, star).
Yoko Ogawa's 'Mina’s Matchbox' sparkles with quiet intimacy
As the recipient of literary accolades ranging from the Akutagawa and Yomiuri prizes to the Shirley Jackson and the American Book awards, Yoko Ogawa is one of the most accomplished Japanese authors of the past 30 years. She is also arguably one of the most eclectic. In Japanese, Ogawa has published at least 52 books with around 19 different publishers, covering remarkably wide-ranging genres and themes, including 14 works of nonfiction plus a translation.
A Fantastical Adventure from Medieval Japan – Takaoka’s Travels - Metropolis Japan
There is no English-language author who could weave an authentic tale about a legendary Japanese prince’s journey to the West. And no, not the European west – the west of Hindustan, or India, the birthplace of Buddhism. No Japanese person ever had reached this place, at least as of the year 865, when the novel “Takaoka’s Travels” takes place. But that is the power of translation.
When it comes to Japan, do you know your 'Kanto' from your 'Kanto-koshin'?
As we hit the latter part of August and head into September, there’s one question you may hear more and more: 夏休みはどこかに行きましたか？ (Natsu yasumi wa dokoka ni ikimashita ka?, Did you go anywhere over summer vacation?) There’s a lot to explore in Japan, including 47 都道府県 (todōfuken, administrative divisions), 百名山 (hyakumeizan, 100 famous mountains), 260 inhabited 島 (shima, islands) and over 13,000 無人島 (mujintō, uninhabited islands).
Fresh Ink: The Defeat of Thought by Osamu Dazai - Metropolis Japan
Osamu Dazai is one of Japan’s literary legends: a tormented and embittered man who drowned himself in the Tamagawa Canal, but who lived on to inspire generations with his earthy, all-too-honest style and gut-wrenching plots. He wrote a number of tiny, fragmentary stories in newspapers and magazines over the course of his life, which have been extensively cataloged and uploaded in the public domain at Aozora Bunko. “The Defeat of Thought” is a dizzyingly bizarre and experimental piece.
Fresh ink: Kitagawa Chiyo Conclusion - Metropolis Japan
In the previous installment of the Fresh Ink series, we presented a translated excerpt of a story by the proletariat girls’ writer Kitagawa Chiyo. “The Silk Sandals” is a working-class moral fable, written by Kitagawa to teach young children harsh lessons about the world. This excerpt introduces the conclusion to the story. Thus far in the story, five girls have gathered around their favorite teacher Miss Sakaru, who is quitting her job.
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