According to a survey from late last year, over 80 percent of the Japanese population has some difficulty reading katakana, the syllabary specially used for foreign terms.

Normally such a glitch would raise the hair on Japanese conservatives who love to grumble that younger generations are fumbling away the nation's heritage. Yet, 80 percent is a fairly inclusive figure. It seems most of Japan is at last coming to see what foreigners here have known all along:

Katakana is a pain in the whoopee seat. Wouldn't life be wonderful without it?