Posted in Japan on March 1, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Via Chris Butcher, the cover of a Japanese magazine devoted to … um … American police. Oddly enough, this magazine seems to be celebrating the fine cops of the United States, at least according to the translation of a headline provided by one of Chris’s readers. According to LillianDP, the headline on the top left reads “32 pages [...]
Posted in Asia, Foreign affairs, History, Japan, Personalities on February 2, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Hatoyama Kunio, Japan’s Justice Minister, gave an interview in the magazine Weekly Asahi last October that has been reprinted on Japan Focus, (a peer reviewed electronic journal and webzine on Japan), and reported recently in the Japan Times. The interview has some fascinating nuggets, but none so interesting as Hatoyama’s explanation for why Japan should continue to uphold the death penalty [...]
Posted in Asia, Foreign affairs, Japan, Philosophy, U.S. Politics on December 26, 2007 | 3 Comments »
The touchdown at Osaka airport by night is rather enchanting: there is even a lit up ferris wheel visible from the air. Enter the customs area at the airport, however, and the mood is somewhat less magical. Behind the row of customs officers processing visitors is a massive yellow sign, perhaps more than 30 metres across, with [...]
Posted in Japan, tagged photos on December 10, 2007 | No Comments »
Chris Butcher, general manager of the world’s greatest comic book store, went on a honeymoon in Japan and brought back a series of remarkable photos. Most camara-armed tourists are tempted to go the National Geographic route, becoming amateur ethnographers recording strange folkways. Chris has a different approach: his brings to Japan a retailer’s eye, zooming in on what [...]
