Because I am an animal

Yuka sounds like a very typical Japanese. In Japan it is not so common to visit other people's houses and it is certainly considered rude to turn up unannounced. Normally the Japanese will meet each other in restaurants or bars or coffee shops. Their culture is very different and it can be hard for a westerner to understand at first. I've heard that because Japan is such a highly populated country with people living in such close proximity they have to be very considerate just for things to run smoothly. They say that in Japan the nail that stands out gets hammered down and it is true that everyone is under a certain amount of pressure to conform and be subservient to the greater good of society as a whole. This is quite different from the western ethos of individuality. I think this has both good and bad consequences. Sometimes it can be a little suffocating because you are always having to think about how your actions affect other people and how they might be judging you. On the other hand it stops people from being totally selfish as they sometimes are in the west. All I know is that now I have been living here for such a long time it would be quite hard for me to go home - western culture almost feels like an alien culture to me now. There are a lot of good things about Japan. The streets are really clean and the crime rate is very low. You can generally walk about at night without fear of being attacked, and as I mentioned earlier, people are generally very considerate. My parents love visiting Japan because everybody is so polite and respectful. They say it is always a shock to go back to England and notice the contrast! I'm glad you liked the guitar reference. I love music and wish I could actually play an instrument or sing as you do. I learned classical guitar for a while as a child but gave it up because I never really had a passion for the music I was playing. I think if I had learned acoustic guitar it might have been different. I'd love to be able to play songs like Bob Marley's redemption song that have a beautiful timeless quality that can reach across time and cultures and speak to the common humanity in all of us. Maybe one day I will learn how to play. There is definitely something amazing about playing to an audience and connecting with them in a direct way that written poetry can't quite compete with. Though of course originally there wasn't such a big distinction between poets and singers. As troubadours they were one and the same and I always feel that the greatest musicians and singers, people like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Tracy Chapman to name but a few, are also amazing poets. Peace and love, Daniel

The real estate market in Japan is totally different to that in the west. In Japan the houses themselves are always losing value and only the land retains its value. The moment someone moves into a new house it starts depreciating, the same way a new car would in America. It is really strange but hardly anyone will move into a second hand house. They will either rent an apartment or build a brand new house from scratch. After 40 or 50 years when the house is considered to be "old" they usually just tear it down and build a new one in its place. That, and the fact that Japan is very earthquake prone, are the reasons why there are hardly any old buildings left outside temples and traditional villages in the countryside. Do you know I have never seen an estate agents office in Japan. There are loads of letting shops but there is hardly any market for second hand houses. This means that once someone buys their first home they very seldom move from it! I actually saw that news segment about the art gallery director who was disowned by his family and made homeless after losing his job. To lose face in Japan can be such a hard thing because everyone puts so much emphasis on their social status etc. Most people closely associate their sense of personal worth with their careers so it can be psychologically as well as financially devastating to lose their jobs. I think being disowned by his family was really harsh though. Maybe there was more to it than merely losing his job, or maybe he was declared bankrupt and thought that distancing himself from his family would allow them to keep the family home etc. I'm sorry to hear that you have been going through something similar in terms of losing your lifestyle. It is extremely unfair (though sadly not surprising) that the bankers who devised the idea of sub prime mortgages should get bailed out while the little people at the bottom of the pyramid are left to pick up the pieces. Peace and love, Daniel