author

 
 

Meta

Philip Zitowitz
For Philip Zitowitz's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 21, 2002
A force to be reckoned with
THE JAPANESE POLICE SYSTEM TODAY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY by L. Craig Parker, Jr.. London: M.E.Sharpe, 2001. 266 pp., $22.95 (paper) The Japanese police system has come under increasing pressure in recent years. Crimes have become more horrific, and the high level of professionalism generally ascribed to the post-World War II force has been undermined by allegations of drug use, a jailhouse love affair and the planting of evidence on suspects.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2001
More to it than meets the eye: the private world of 'manga'
ADULT MANGA: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japanese Society, by Sharon Kinsella. Curzon Press, 2000, 228 pp., $19.95 (paper). "Manga" leads a double life in Japan. Its popularity as entertainment for the masses is well-known: Subway riders furtively flip through its pages, young people crowd into convenience stores to read the latest installment of their favorite series, and gaggles of schoolgirls chat about their heroine's latest escapades. There are manga coffee shops and bookstores, manga conventions and art exhibits, manga Web sites and international conferences. In fact, manga is such a ubiquitous form of contemporary popular culture that it has often been compared to air.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 4, 2000
Lessons from a life unlike any other
NO ONE'S PERFECT, by Hirotada Ototake. Translated by Gerry Harcourt. Kodansha International, 226 pp., 1,900 yen. Hirotada Ototake, in his first major literary effort, "No One's Perfect (Gotai Fumanzoku)," has written a work whose seismic rating has scaled off the page: To date, over 4 million copies have been sold.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?