Chanpon

The Japan Foundation Newsletter is a great source of high-brow and middle-brow writing in English on Japanese culture. The October 2001 Issue (Marked Volume XXIX Number 1) contains an article about Japanese sports figures playing overseas: "How Japanese Athletes Are Changing Japan's Image at Home and Abroad." Seems like some of these young folks are challenging Japan's isolation and images of Japan in Western minds. In particular, the author Midori Masujima, a woman with decades of experience writing about sports, sees Japan's entry into World Cup Soccer as a particularly noteworthy way that Japan has joined the International Community.

The Japan Foundation hosts an archive of their newsletters, but for now, this latest issue is not posted. Should be any day now, let's hope!