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December
2002/January 2003
Back to this month's Letters
“Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing
the ideal self.”
Happy New Year! Letters in December and January
were thin: we were hoping for more thrust and parry on the best
and worst book on Japanology. But perhaps all of you were too
clever to take the bait?
Write
to us. We adore mail.
Japanology
101: No Exits
Loved your Christmas essay “No Exits”! Thanks for making
it and sharing it. It almost had me on the floor with all the laughter.
After reading it though, it occurred to me it needs one more addendum
if you can fit it in:
"You're all a bunch of PC racists."
-- Tomoyuki Tanaka
Regards,
R.M.
Tokyo, Japan
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Japanology 101: The redux
The satirical essay is wonderful! If also a little
chastening. . .
Best wishes,
John McCreery
Tokyo, Japan
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“Just when I thought
I was out…they pulled me back in!”
Great site. Love it. Keep up the good work.
Any thoughts on the FT article in today's (1/22) paper, second
section on "Banks' moves show Japan's fall from power", about
foreign investment banks restructuring their operations so that
no longer will they support a separate Japan office from their
Asia business operations? I like [Niko Solomon Smith Barney’s
Alex] Kinmont's quote: "Japan's growing irrelevance marks the
death knell of Japanese exceptionalism."
K.K.
Tokyo, Japan
JRN:
The Tokyo financial industry has always gone through volatile
spurts in line with the business cycle. Some firms stay but slim
down their operations (e.g., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Merrill
Lynch). Others pull out altogether only to come back in when the
timing is right (e.g., Lehmann Brothers). The question is whether
or not what we’re witnessing today is something entirely different
from the norm. It’s certainly true that the prolonged recession
and stock market slump has had a profound impact on the way gaishikei
(foreign firms) due business. Besides complete pull-outs from
the equities market this time around (e.g., Indosuez, ABN-Amro),
some firms are resorting to new business models that try to focus
on “global” or at least Asian services (e.g., Dresdner Kleinwort
Wasserstein, Commerzbank, and Paribas). Only time will tell which
strategy is best.
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Potty
The
interview of Darice Veri was very nice. However, Mr. Perry knows
nothing of American Pottery.
CB
(unknown)
JRN:
Perhaps, but we do feel that Mr. Perry is well qualified to discuss
Japanese pottery. Kudos to Dean and Darice: it was the most read
item this month.
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Reader submitted Trivia
Questions
Question 1: "It is a dirty and cursed burlesque
aimed to slander North Korea and insult the Korean nation," the
statement said. "It clearly proves that the United States is the
root cause of all disasters and misfortune of the Korean nation
and is an empire of evil." To what are the North Koreans referring?
Question 2: A man has been just arrested in Los Angeles for stalking
Britney Spears. He is a Japanese national. Where was he educated?
JRN:
Stumped? The answers are the new James Bond movie, Die another
Day and a doctorate from Tokyo University. No surprises in the
last one.
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