Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan

I’m two-thirds into this book written by Alex Kerr that seeks to provide some explanation as to why Japan has yet to recover from the burst of the bubble, and highlights lots of disturbing information about the mismanagement of Japan’s natural environment, business markets, culture and so on.

It’s interesting primarily due to the all the shocking revelations, although Kerr has a tendency to repeat himself in terms of facts, figures and quotes.

What I think I’ve liked the most in the book so far is this hilarious paragraph from Kerr – wait for the punchline! – and the fact that I actually got the joke, thanks to hanging out with all those people from JET:

‘Nations, like people in this respect, may pride themselves most highly on the quality they most lack. Hence “fair play” is a golden virtue in Great Britain, the county that attacked and subjugated half the globe. “Equality” was the banner of Soviet Russia, where commissars owned lavish dachas on the Black Sea and the proletariat lived no better than serfs. The United States prides itself on its high “moral standards”, while perpetuating racial and moral double standards. And then there is l’amour in France, a nation of cold blooded rationalists. Or Canadians priding themselves most on being so distinctively “Canadian”.’