One reason I catalog subways is that they're easily defined (Tokyo, dense system, third rail; Kyoto, smaller system electrified by pantograph) while few other things are, particularly when you come to contemporary issues. The old is beautiful, often awesomely. And we see examples of that in the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. But what's happening at the moment? Journalistically you can test your preconceptions against what you see and flag inconsistencies. But the lack of detectable inconsistencies doesn't prove you right. So I arrive thinking that Korea is a growing economy with a government that appears to be be getting better and Japan is probably a static economy at best (and maybe modestly shrinking) whose government seems to make Washington seem effective. Maybe so. The Japanese appear comfortable. Things are expensive, the streets are paved and the trains run on time. Odd the travel forces me inward to assess my ignorance -- or perhaps yet another facet of my narcissism.
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