One of the major convenience store chains announced a few months ago its intention to cover with plastic the adult-related publications in its magazine sections. The goal is to render sexually explicit magazines less visible, and thus protect children but also all customers who would prefer not be exposed to such materials while shopping for daily groceries.

This is a welcome initiative, which will hopefully be followed by many others. Japanese society has arguably become addicted to pornography. But there is another more pernicious issue that Japan has to face; the soft objectification of its young women. Everywhere can you see suggestive images and representations, often anime characters, conveying ambiguous connotations.

Just to share one of the many examples I have encountered recently, take this month's issue of a wine magazine found on the racks of my local bookstore (in the "food" section, between the "travel" and "sports" magazines). This magazine is of rather high quality, content- and style-wise. The goal of this publication is apparently to both introduce different wine types and provide information about wine-related culture. It shows an elaborate and fashionably appealing design; definitively a smart publication aiming at educating and entertaining wine lovers.