Different Worlds

Recently three Japanese returned home after being held as hostages in Iraq. The reaction throughout Japan, which has a much broader basis in Japan's enduring post-WW2 military-identity crisis than the Times suggests, reveals much about different cultural norms between the US and Japan. Colin Powell came off sounding particularly inept at cultural nuance - and usually he's the only culturally nuanced member of the current Administration! Just imagine how differently the hostage situation and return home would have played out in the US and played into election-year politics.

At any rate, here's the article: "Freed From Captivity in Iraq, Japanese Return to More Pain".