Word: emperor
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...years, who is known for his love of manga or Japanese-style comic books. Some consider him destined for the top office, given his array of personal ties to former prime ministers and to the Imperial family itself (His brother-in-law is a prince, the first cousin of Emperor Akihito). That higher personality profile, both more elite and more popular, contrasts him with the likely new president of the DJP, Ichiro Ozawa, who, like Fukuda, is not popular. Indeed, two DPJ members of the Upper House formed their own party last week to protest their own party's role...
...introduced in 1974 - were scrubbed clean of ethnic markings and sold instead as prototypes of a postnational world. The cultural distancing is understandable. Japan's wartime defeat equated nationalism with suffering. The occupying Americans discouraged indigenous martial arts like karate and kendo from Japanese schools, just as an Emperor whose name was used to justify a terrible war learned to focus on safer pursuits like marine biology. What aspiring Japanese fashion designer would want to, say, revive historical motifs when the rising sun still draws revulsion in Nanjing or Bataan...
...Japan's renewed sense of identity has also stoked a spiritual rediscovery. Under Shinto, the country's native religion, which blends a reverence for nature with Japan's founding myths, the Japanese Emperor is considered the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu; it was in Emperor Hirohito's sacred name that Japanese soldiers fought in World War II. When a battle-vanquished Hirohito announced in 1946 that he was not, in fact, a god in human form, some Japanese distanced themselves from the animist tradition. While shrines remained and festivals continued, Shinto was initially condemned by the occupying Americans...
...have at times been among China's most vocal Western critics: George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They knew this was China's moment. Back in the Middle Kingdom's heyday, dignitaries from elsewhere in the world would come to pay tribute to the Emperor, an acknowledgement of China's power. As legendary gymnast Li Ning, a six-time Olympic medalist and sporting-wear tycoon, soared through midair to light the Olympic cauldron, the world bore witness to the unmistakable fact that China was back - in a blaze of glory. - With reporting by Sean Gregory and Alice Park/Beijing
...such a pivotal figure in sports history, not much is known about Bikila. Perhaps there is little to know. A poor villager who faithfully served the Emperor and was coached by a charismatic Swede named Onni Niskanen, Bikila left neither piles of letters nor much insight into his own dreams and beliefs. After his twin marathon wins, filled with hubris and alcohol, his body betrayed him. He failed in Mexico in '68, was paralyzed in a car accident and died a few years later...