A serial seducer who enchants aristocratic women with poems on scented paper and gifts of luxurious kimono, Genji turns 1 000 this year, his appeal to readers undiminished. Schoolchildren still study parts of the work and three major English translations have brought international acclaim for the author known as Murasaki Shikibu.
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/ 19 February 2008
Japan’s top court ruled on Tuesday that pictures by late United States photographer Robert Mapplethorpe are not obscene, putting an end to years of legal fighting. In the 2003 ruling, the Tokyo High Court ruled that the book, which included images of male genitals, went ”against good sexual morality”.