Merle,<br/><br/>The world today is not the same as it was during WW2 and this
is certainly true in Japan. Back then (and beyond) to die in service of the
Emperor was the highest honour - to back down from this service was to bring
shame to yourself, your family and the nation. Loss of face in Japanese society
is a huge factor in self-policing. Being such a densely populated nation there
was no escape from this duty. <br/><br/>I don't think the Japanese today though
share this same sense of duty as their grandparents generation (MacArthur saw
to that!). Loss of face is still evident though. It's amazing that you can go
into a packed shopping centre food-hall and leave your wallet, iPhone etc
unguarded on the table while you get your food and still have it there when you
return. Guaranteed. Lost property i.e, wallets will be returned with the
contents untouched. I remember being shocked when I first went to a train
station around 11pm and saw a young girl
in school uniform unaccompanied catching a train. Now that is a familiar
sight. In 8 years of going out (most weekends!) I didn't see *one* fight! That
to me is the heart of the Japanese people - honest and peaceful. The cruelty of
their grandparents in WW2 was, I hope, an aberration caused by the tendency to
militarism experienced by many countries of that era (whales and dolphins might
disagree with this!).<br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad
