Word: muchness
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...recently in the town of Sendai, north of Tokyo. It snowed, which was a lovely treat, something I never see at home in Hong Kong. Japan is a respite from the rest of Asia in many other ways. While much of the region is still hurtling along the path of development - a blinding whirl of frenetic construction and perpetual change - Japan is a vision of stability, a nation that has everything others in Asia want, and has already had it all for decades. Money. Technology. Global brands. A seat at the table with the powerful countries of the industrialized world...
...outright sink, but not enough for it to return to the high-flying days of yesteryear. What I find most baffling about Japan is how a nation can be in such a protracted period of malaise and never seem to muster the will or ability to do very much about...
...rich nation like the U.S., it's easy to be fooled into thinking there's always more time for problems to get solved. So it has been in Japan. The Japanese are wealthy enough that they don't suffer too much from the prolonged period of stunted growth. But Japan also stands as a warning to those who think tough decisions can be delayed indefinitely. Japan's public finally seems ready for something new. Voters last year tossed out the Liberal Democrats, who had governed almost uninterrupted since 1955. The new sheriff in town is Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama...
...Indonesia Matters Indonesia deserves just that. Obama's trip is crucial for introducing Americans to a country that may not evoke much beyond earthquakes and tsunamis but is nevertheless key to U.S. interests. A 17,000-island archipelago, Indonesia boasts the world's biggest Muslim population. It is also the world's third largest democracy (after India and the U.S.), proving that Islam need not be the enemy of political freedom. Back when Obama lived in Jakarta, where his American mother was an anthropologist and aid worker, Indonesia was ruled by a dictator and mired in poverty. Today...
...Koran literacy for Muslim children to the as-yet-unenforced stoning to death for adultery - despite the fact that Indonesia is officially a secular nation. At Menteng Elementary School where Obama once studied, the principal and many teachers wear veils. The Muslim prayer room in the public school is much larger than it was when Obama attended classes there...