Harper’s Bazaar in Japan has a new attitude, and they want to express that with a huge ad of a naked pregnant Britney Spears covering her breasts with her arms at the Omotesando subway station in the ritzy district of the same name in Tokyo. That has created an uproar, especially since Tokyo Metro decided to forbid it because it was too out there. Harper’s Bazaar has gotten what it’s wanted though — they’ve gotten the kind of advertising you could never pay for. Television morning shows devoted a whole 10 minutes to it, interviewing people on the street about their opinion, running a recap of Britney Spears’ accomplishments, and having a discussion about what Harper’s hopes to achieve by it.

Personally speaking, I’m not sure what Harper’s hopes to accomplish by identifying themselves with Britney Spears. Have they seen any of the recent pictures of her in some of the entertainment magazines stateside? (Not that I read them)

In this morning’s news: the number of HIV positive people in Japan has grown at a faster rate than it ever has in the quarter to July 2 since it began tracking these numbers in 1985, according to the government. Specifically, 248 people were found to be HIV positive in the quarter. Total number of AIDS patients in Japan supposedly number 108.

I don’t even know where to start, but something is not right here if cases in Japan are rising as it’s decreasing in every other developed country. And let’s not forget that the actual number is probably significantly higher than what the government is reporting. HIV testing is simply not common here.

Interestingly enough, a morning news show was saying that the biggest increase is found among men over 40 (gee, I wonder where they contract it). It doesn’t surprise me. This is a country where many wives (not all, and probably fewer and fewer of the younger set) think it’s okay for their men to “have fun” with other women as long as they’re professional women.