Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now comes the Japanese Prime Minister, a fellow named (I'm not making this up) Aso. When the only guy you can find to run your country is an Aso, you can be sure that your economy is going down the toilet.
And that's exactly what is happening to our beloved Japan. When it comes to governing, the Japanese say, Aso really is an Aso. Headlines all over the world are blaring "Obama Meets with a Real Aso."
Meanwhile, back in the home country, soshokukei danchi, or (literally) "plant-eating man" is all the rage. These are very gentle young men who are too shy to even look at a woman, let alone flirt with her.
They are very quiet, neat, and they are presumed to not eat meat.
Here, I suppose, they would be called wimps. But in Japan, as always, everything is viewed differently.
It's hard to comprehend but Japan is still supposedly the world's second-largest economy, despite an almost permanent state of stagnant growth that has recently deteriorated into utter shrinkage.
Maybe, plant-eating man is just another way to cope with hopelessness about the future? After all, if you think things are going to hell in a hand-basket, the last thing you'd want to do is create children.
Having long admired the way Japanese tread lightly on the earth, compared to Americans, it was disturbing to learn they also throw away more food per capita than any people on earth.
This is because they are obsessed with only eating the freshest of foods. (Day-old sushi is not a good idea.) Maybe this discard slightly less fresh food mantra will have to change, as the Japanese, like all other people, have to adapt to The Global Depression.
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