Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

I was eating mochi for lunch when I started wondering how the word mochi managed to enter the English language despite the product being not so well-acquainted among the average native speaker of English. The word itself is completely meaningless to someone without exposure to Japanese or the wider East Asian culinary tradition, a simple transliteration of the Japanese term for "gluttonous rice cake" that has, in some corner of the Western world, symbolize an exotic snack almost exclusively, despite it being around for thousands of years and used in dishes sweet and savory, for proper meals and desserts.

When people talk about dynamic centers of future industries in Japan outside Tokyo, Tsukuba, a town some 45 minutes by train north of Tokyo, gets frequent mentions. Home to high rankin, tech focused University of Tsukuba, the national space agency JAXA, and various state-funded science research organizations, the town is supposed to use its human capital in STEM to propel a series of successful tech startups, just as Stanford and Berkeley help to fuel Silicon Valley with human talent.

For a publication that is known for supporting liberal causes, most important of all the respect of human rights around the world, the Economist can be highly pragmatic. The magazine argued for institutionalizing international migrants as second class citizens in their host societies to placate the worst tendencies of anti-immigration xenophobia that has made headlines in many recipient countries. Setting aside the discussion on whether systematically introducing bureaucratic and economic inequalities between migrants and "natives" contradicts the principle of universal human rights, one should not doubt that the Economist  values practical solutions over lofty ideals in dealing with real-world issues.

In a TV interview in the aftermath of the World Food Program (WFP) receiving this year's Nobel Peace Prize, a former senior Japanese official at the WFP spoke of the one big lesson from his more than 30 years with the organization. He noted that every inequality, no matter how far away, is relevant to every nation and people around the world, and it is necessary for everyone to keep their eyes peeled for every conflict that emerges to better understand themselves. The words of the former WFP manager could not more in time today especially in Japan, as a deadly military conflict rages in the Caucasus with little mainstream coverage.

In a small coastal town three hours drive from Tokyo, a beautiful two-lane wind through seaside hills overlooking remote beaches barely visited by tourists. Mostly uninhabited, the winding road is home to few occasional gated housing compounds, cordoned off from public views with high concrete walls and dense canopies of palm trees. Only by walking higher up the hills, away from the road, one can see what are inside the mysterious compounds. They are luxury private homes with large balconies facing the ocean, flanked by Mercedes and BMWs, fronted by meticulously tended gardens, standing in what seems to be the middle of nowhere with a great view.

One of the great tragedies of the smartphone era is just how attached the average user is to the device. Anywhere, anytime, people are glued to their little screens, seeking stimulations in the most mundane of situations. The propensity for people paying attention to smartphones rather than anything else around them has required local authorities to put up posters and warning signs to discourage their use under certain circumstances, lest aloof smartphone users unwittingly bump into others or worse, hurt themselves by absent-mindedly wandering into busy roads and railroads.

I recently had an opportunity to speak to a group of new university graduates just joining a particular Japanese firm, as part of the company's initial training for new hires. As an icebreaker to get to know the group a bit better, I asked each member of the group about why s/he decided to join this company. The answers, to my sheer disappointment, was extremely underwhelming. One mentioned that the company is big and stable, another said that the firm's older employees all seemed to be very friendly, and scariest of all, one person bluntly mentioned that there is no particular reason that she chose the firm over others.