Donald J. Maloney (1928

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

– September 3, 2007) was an American author. He wrote a weekly newspaper column about his life as an American businessman in Japan during the 1970s. Maloney graduated from the Syracuse University School of Journalism in 1948. In 1970, Maloney was assigned to Tokyo by the Harris Corporation (then of Cleveland, Ohio) to engineer Harris' entry into the Japanese market. He negotiated a 50/50 joint venture between Harris and

Marubeni Corporation (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a ''sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a st ...

of Japan, and served as managing director and chief operating officer of Marubeni-Harris Printing Equipment Company. He was a member of the Tokyo American Club, American Chamber of Commerce Japan, America-Japan Society, International House, and the

Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) was started in 1945 to provide infrastructure for foreign journalists working in Post-World War II Japan. Historically, the club has been located in the area around Ginza. Today, the club offers ...

. Maloney is probably best known in Japan for his humorous

newspaper column A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, where a writer expresses their own opinion in few columns allotted to them by the newspaper organisation. Columns are written by columnists. What differe ...

s published every Sunday in Tokyo's English-language daily, the Japan Times, entitled ''Never the Twain...?'' which dealt exclusively with the experience of an American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

living in Japan. In 1975, a collection of his articles from 1970 to 1974 were published in ''Japan: It's Not All Raw Fish'', , even used as course material by North Carolina State University; followed by ''Son of Raw Fish''. His accounts of life as lived by a foreigner striving in Japan included episodes involving "Wife Sarah," his four kids (Frances, Barbara, Shawn and Donald Jr.), his Japanese neighbors and all the shopkeepers, coworkers, policemen and folks from every walk of life were grist for his knee-slapping editorial mill. The Maloney family lived next to

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

manager and former superstar

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ...

, providing Maloney with a virtually bottomless pool of column material. An example of Maloney's self-deprecating humor- :"All foreigners should total up all the money they are spending each month on Japanese lessons. Drop out of school and send the money to the 'Maloney Final Solution to the Language Problem Fund.' The Fund will use the money to teach English to the Japanese. And since you will have free time, you can hire yourself out to the Fund as an English teacher, earning extra money to boot." He served five two-year terms as a commissioner for the City of

Holmes Beach, Florida Holmes Beach is a city on Anna Maria Island in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,010, down from 3,836 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan S ...

, beginning in 1995. After losing a reelection bid in 2005, he returned to humor writing, authoring a twice-monthly column for a local newspaper. Maloney died September 3, 2007, at the age of 79. He was survived by his wife of 58 years, Sarah, as well as his four children and twelve grandchildren.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20060112211442/http://www.weekender.co.jp/new/011102/this_week.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20060326185007/http://www.flcities.com/membership/international/article_holmesbeach.asp {{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, Don 1928 births 2007 deaths People from Teaneck, New Jersey Anna Maria Island American Japanologists Syracuse University alumni American chief operating officers People from Holmes Beach, Florida