Word: narita
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...That's when the public got its first good look at Kim, as dozens of reporters and photographers staked out Narita airport for a glimpse of the seldom-seen son of the Dear Leader. As he trudged across the tarmac, Kim turned out to be a pudgy man in glasses, brown vest, Rolex watch and gold rings?bearing a striking, if somewhat more modern, resemblance to Kim Jong Il. In South Korea, some suggested he looked like his grandfather Kim Il Sung...
...What do you think of Japan?" is the first question any Western celebrity arriving at Narita airport is required to answer, as though it matters what Brad Pitt or Britney Spears thinks of Japan, as though a mere glimpse of Narita's airport lounge would elicit any interesting thoughts at all. But interest is not the point here; it is a ritual, a formula. Foreign guests express their admiration, and their hosts accept these verbal tributes gracefully...
...when the Tokyo taxi driver, the reporter at Narita airport or the anxious newspaper pollster abroad asks Westerners what they think about Japan, they do not expect a sharp analysis or some illuminating insight. They want a token of admiration for the performance of modern Japan. When taxi drivers or pollsters stop asking that question, when Japanese don't give a damn anymore about what foreigners think of them, we will know that something fundamental has changed. But until that day, which I do not expect to see soon, the country-cousin anxiety will remain as an integral part...