I have roots in Japan.  I was born in Hawaii and only speak English, but have been to Japan a lot.   I know the people there and have been everywhere in the country.   There is a kind of affluence that seems real. I feel safer in Japan than the USA. The whole country is clean. But this should not be for at least two reasons: The  Great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear cataclysm  cost around $300 billion, and they await that coming  $1 trillion megaquake. The Nikkei 225 was around Y45,000 35 years ago, and remains about the same today. The Dow Jones Industrial average closed at $2,634 on 31December 1990 and is around 46,312 today. The  Japan Nikkei 225 hit a record high this week  with the Fed Reserve rate cut, closing at 45,303 Yen.  Never in history had the Nikkei hit Y45,000 until this month.  The yen, by the way, is 147.6 to the dollar, and that, too, explains the feeling of what one can afford when visiting Japan. Lik...