I felt a dramatic mood change in Tokyo on Friday the 7th. From a mood of general confidence and upbeat about economic prospects to dour and grim. I felt it in every part of the city, on subways and in department stores. (I had mentioned the happy mood in a blog written in June and posted last week.)
I don’t claim to know the reason for the change in mood.
I could guess that having a neighboring country with a tyrannical government, insane behavior, nuclear weapons, blatant threats and unbridled determination to ignore all international pressure… launching missiles wouldn’t make anyone happy. Add to this, the neighbor is the puppet of a large and powerful nuclear belligerent state (China) and the country vowing to protect Japan, the U.S., is filled with outspoken media cowards and anti-war partisans.