Newsweek Covers

My friend Lars brought over two issues of Newsweek today, the Japanese and American versions of the same issue. The contents are never identical, but major articles are often translated from English to Japanese. This time, however, the contrast between the covers of the February 3rd (US) and February 5th (Japan) issues are interesting…

The title of the US issue is “Hell Bent on War: Will Attacking Saddam Really Make Us Safer” set on a background of a young soldier (American?) with perhaps a hint of anxiety in his look.

The cover of the Japanese Newsweek issue is a cartoon globe with a rather comical depiction of Bush riding (and holding the reigns of) a bomb marked with the US flag, reminescent of Dr. Strangelove. The cover line is ブッシュは世界の敵？正義を掲げるカウボーイの異常な「戦争愛」 which I guess can be translated as “Is Bush the world’s enemy? A Cowboy’s twisted love of war in the name of Justice” (leave a comment if this is off) The major cover article on “War and its consequences” in the US magazine is translated into Japanese and included in the Japanese issue with all the usual maps and military statistics, though the title of the Japanese version is translated oddly as “The Attack on Iraq cannot be Avoided”