There are a lot of things that surprise newcomers to anime. Why are the characters’ eyes so big? How come everyone has funky hair colors? What’s up with all the panty shots? A lot of those have simple answers. The giant eyes are an influence from legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka, who was in turn inspired by classic Disney designs. Anime artwork uses a relatively small number of lines in drawing faces, and a large palette of hair colors is a quick and easy way to differentiate otherwise similar-looking characters.

A Japanese wrestler-turned-politician hopes his vision of "sports diplomacy" can repair his country's fraught relationship with North Korea, as he prepares to host an extraordinary sporting event in Pyongyang. And Kanji "Antonio" Inoki has form: he helped secure the release of Japanese hostages in Iraq in 1990 after impressing tyrant Saddam Hussein, and more recently used his old bouts with Pakistani wrestlers to foster goodwill between the South Asian country and his own.

The missed opportunity of not visiting Japan early enough should now be offset by the rhetoric of the joint statement. The converging geo-political interests of India and Japan in curbing the growing assertiveness of China in the Asia-Pacific is certainly one of the major factors binding the two nations together. 

There has been much debate recently on the possibility of a China-South Korea alliance. The “pro” arguments quite often begin by noting that China has been emerging rapidly in a multi-polar world, making a strategic competition or even stand-off between China and the United States more probable.

A little focus on branding could do a miracle at the economic front as it would not only change an ordinary product into special one but also attract the buyers. This was upshot of the speeches delivered at a seminar on “Branding Pakistan” organized by the LCCI Standing Committee on National Outreach Program. 

Here lies the vision of China's peaceful rise. It is a concept first put forward in 2003 by Chinese authorities as the country was gradually reinforcing its role in international affairs.  But this concept comes with many layers: Even while China is exporting its products all over the world, Beijing explains that it has no hegemonic ambitions.  Can China be a superpower that is fundamentally unintrusive, and not a threat for its neighbors?