Glimpses of Japan

New to me, despite subscribing to magu-magu mail magazine, is a site of weekly posts by a 39-year resident ---since 11 April 1970---of Japan at Glimpses of Japan. Short observations of life in Japan. His latest post is an observation on the Japanese media frenzy over Swine flu. I agree, but it ain't any worse than the media anywhere else as far as I have seen. (I'm stayin' inside today myself in order to avoid the panicked, screaming hordes of mask-wearing folks in crisis mode that I've been hearing about.)

He also had a 2004 post about "American coffee" which you can find in a lot of restaurants and cheapo coffee shops. In the past the choice was "blend" or American which was akin to choosing between be executed by hanging or firing squad. I'll take a wild guess and say it may have come from coffee served in U.S. Army mess halls and sold black market during the occupation. I often have people---maybe just after telling me about Japan's unique four seasons and the fact that non-Japanese have wet ear wax while Japanese have dry---that American coffee is very weak. You mean Starbucks I ask? Confusion results.

3:48PM: It's unbelievable, but after reading through most of 5-years worth of his posts, I have not discovered the mysterious, uniquely-unique Japan of the media and myth. Why, it seems like a normal country with some good points and some problems. Imagine that.