I thought I’d written about Japan’s crazy vending machine costume before, but perhaps it was back in the archives of my blog that disappeared in the server debacle awhile back. Anyhow, I’m posting (or reposting?) it on request.

There are a couple of cultural details you have to be familiar with in order for this [...]

There are many “common” phrases used in the world of international politics that we use often put probably don’t fully understand — One of these for me is the term, “Japan passing.” According to the Economist, this phrase has two meanings: (1) that world’s second biggest economy was being passed by in a fast-changing [...]