Two years ago, the BBC said Japan was the future, but it's now stuck in the past. I agree. Among the detractions is ownership of real estate. You buy a home, and after paying off your mortgage in, say, 40 years, it is worth almost nothing. Japan recently had the third-largest economy, is a peaceful and prosperous country with the longest life expectancy in the world, the lowest murder rate, little political conflict, a powerful passport, and the sublime Shinkansen, the world's best high-speed rail network. Actually, about GDP and the economy, Germany has slipped past Japan into #3, with India in the next few months easing by Japan. When the author of this article, Rupert Wingield-Hayes, first arrived in Tokyo in 1993, a third of a century ago, he was effusive about the country being exquisitely clean and orderly. Actually still is. But he noted that Hong Kong was an assault on senses and Taipei had horrible air pollution. He could have said...
New SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY: This blog site derives from the original version of Planet Earth & Humanity, but will be more WE than ME. The coverage will remain similar, but perhaps these postings will seem to come from a parallel universe, or maybe even Purgatory. But truth and reality will prevail, with dashes of whimsy and levity to help make your day.