Once again...THANK YOU!

A Personal Message

Here in Japan, the year is almost over. There's was a kind of Christmas here, but a commercial holiday—a shopping holiday—a bit like Valentine's Day which was invented by J. Walter Thompson to sell chocolates in Japan and broken into two days, one for men and one for women, to increase sales.

Traditionally, Japanese people have celebrated winter solstice with a lot of Year Forgetting parties—where you were supposed to un-remember all the bad stuff that happened to you, eat a lot of yakitori and get drunk on a toxic mix of beer, wine and whisky. COVID put a damper on that.

New Year's is the big thing.

Before New Years, people do a lot cleaning—their homes, temples and shrines and the like.

At the beginning of the New Year, man people visit shrines to make a New Year’s wish—usually the same as last year's which didn't come true.

Others take the opportunity to travel. Some just go back to their hometown, some go to resorts or overseas.

Me? I just sleep. As you see in the picture at the end of this article.

After New Year's, you used to have parties. Recently, there are lot fewer of these, with the generation prioritizing personal and private activities—and companies unwilling to pay for them.

The old industrial “Salaryman” culture is evolving in post-industrial Japan. Salarymen are not what they used to be—and neither are companies.

That said, one should be careful of generalizations —there is not really just one Japan—there are many….

Just like there is not really one America—but many.

I am large, I contain multitudes.

Walt Whitman

In this, there is good and bad. One must look for the beauty and the good.

Writing this newsletter, I have been very fortunate in the multitude and the diversity of the News Forensics community.

So many people have reached out to me with public comments on this blog and helpful criticism, drawing attention to my mistakes while providing source material and ideas. When people buy me a coffee, I always respond with a personal comment, each one different. And people often respond to that—and I get to know them on a private basis, widening my horizons.

All my life, I have been conscious that my abilities are also disabilities that sometimes isolate me from others.

Yet if I really want to accomplish something, I need others.

The concept of News Forensics is that “news” is not truth—rather that the media draw our attention to events without elucidating what is really happening or what this means to us and to others. What is the New York Times but a tabloid for upper-middle-class wannabes?

Who panders more to fantasy? The Washington Post? Or Porn Hub?

At least porn hub is honest about it. And it is Canadian too. At last, something to be proud of!

The truth of anything important that might concern you is beyond and above and below the news. It is a mystery, and all we have is clues.

I am no Sherlock. So, I need the help that you give me. You are all my Watsons. The voices of reason.

This newsletter has grown from just a handful of subscribers to more than 3000.

That's because of you. Thank you.

NOTE:

A couple of years back. New Year’s. The pink thing is an eye mask. As usual, you can buy me a coffee by clicking here or on the picture. If you're using a Safari browser, you may have trouble connecting to the buymeacoffee website. In that case, use Chrome.

Click on picture to buy me a coffee