Japan Times

I’ve been linking to so many stories from the Japan Times, one of these days I should really just establish a permanent link there. In the meantime, here is an interesting article on the “God Gap” between Japan and the West. I’ve mentioned this before, but Japan’s lack of religion makes it really hard for me to explain to Japanese friends certain aspects of American culture, like the Religious Right, or the battle over “under God” in the constitution, or many of the other religious wars we have in the US. This article only skims the surface of the issue, but it is a good introduction.

To switch from the high brow to the low brow: photographs of women pretending to be dead, and the ever-growing problem of teenage prostitution in Japan. The bizarre thing about this growing social problem, as you will note from the article, is the motivation is not economic desperation but rather the desire to buy brand name hand bags and accessories.