Blaine's latest...

...is an interesting look at why Japanese women aren't getting married - and therefore aren't having many children. Japan has an extraordinarily low birthrate, which (Blaine says) is mainly because Japanese women delay marriage or don't get married at all. (Solo parenting by choice is extraordinarily rare in Japan.)

Blaine's cheeky lede: "I have never met a Japanese man who did not want me to be his mommy."

Here's the video interview with the story's main character, Takako Takeyama. She's very direct about a subject that, in many cultures, would not be easy to talk about.

In today's paper, Blaine also has a story about how "globe-trotting" Japanese are staying home, to the horror of the travel industry.

McCain's VP

Sarah Palin? Totally bizarro selection. Quickie analysis:

- If he wanted to pick a woman to peel off Hillary voters, he could have gone with Meg Whitman or Carly Fiorina - but maybe they are both pro-choice. Or he could have gone with Olympia Snowe or Kay Bailey Hutchison (though I read somewhere that Hutchison and McCain don't get along). But a 2-year, radically pro-life governor with a 5-month-old infant? I don't see HRC voters moving dramatically in that direction, unless they were already planning to vote for McCain.

- Even stranger, the people who seem most thrilled about the choice of Palin are those right-wing and anti-tax GOP men who, in the past, have tried hardest to destroy McCain: People like Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, and Christian conservatives like Richard Land and James Dobson, whom McCain once called "agents of intolerance." I think it says something about McCain's insecurity that, even now, when he's the nominee of the party, he has to suck up to people he clearly detests by choosing someone (alas, a woman) who is so clearly not ready for the job.

- All criticism aside, the selection of Palin does bring one huge benefit to the race: some fresh novelties and absurdies. Who knows when the wheels might come off?

Of course, I could be really, seriously wrong about all this, as I've been before.

Obama's speech

Back of the envelope thoughts about Obama's speech:

- The family stuff, the patriotism bit, the McCain criticism were all fine. The domestic policy section and the ending were really terrific, and the MLK reference at the end was particularly moving.

- But the foreign affairs stuff was muddled. The line about McCain not following Osama to his cave was one of the very few tin notes in the speech.

- Biggest surprise: Obama was notably subdued and serious throughout the speech. We didn't see much of his big grin, and he didn't evoke the usual euphoria that's typical for nominees who've just had the most important night of their lives. (Michelle Obama was also similarly serious-faced.) Obama is smart and he's run an incredibly sharp campaign, so we have to assume this was all strategy - that even though his campaign set him up to speak to 80,000 people, he (and they) didn't want to ride too high in that crowd.

- Which makes the set even weirder. I mean, why the faux White House? Weird and fake and unnecessary at a moment when Obama was pushing authenticity.

- Then again, the speech was really strong and presented Obama as strong and presidential - so, in the end, that's the reason for the faux White House.

- And I guess the success of the speech can be measured partly in the totally hypocritical reax from the NYT's David Brooks, who complained on the NewsHour that Obama didn't have enough high-flying rhetoric... and this from Brooks, who's obsessed with Obama's fancy-schmancy Hyde Park connections and pushed Biden as the VP, but now doesn't want to give Obama any credit for, well, anything. (And what is this totally kookoo Brooks column?

Now for McCain's veep choice. Alaska's Palin would be a bonkers choice vs. Biden. The networks say it isn't Pawlenty or Romney (Gail Collins will be disappointed.). So, Lieberman? We'll know soon anyway, but Lieberman would be decisively annoying.

Harajuku girls and boys

Tokyo is famous for its Harajuku girls - young women who dress up in elaborate costumes and walk around the Harajuku neighborhood. When we were in Yoyogi Park (which is near Harajuku) this weekend, we saw some Harajuku girls - and boys - parading in front of tourists like exotic creatures at the zoo.

Here are a few of the fashion curiosities.


The sweet punker crowd?


Sort of like Bjork at the Oscars many years ago.


Looks like a do-it-yourself concoction of pink and green and faux fur. This girl, like many others in Harajuku (including those you see in the background of this photo), is pulling a small suitcase where she can stash normal clothes to wear as she rides the train to and from home.

Dance festival

We went to Yoyogi Park today with our friends Rena Singer and John Murphy (of the Wall St. Journal) and their children to see a festival where, it turned out, dozens of Japanese-style dance teams performed.


It was a big scene with lots of costumes.





This group looked like a flock of flamingos.


We also saw this bubble guy, who used a ribbon and a bubble solution made of (we were told) dishwashing liquid, mineral water, and a gel used for animal bowel problems. (click pic for a better look at the bubble)


The kids were a little subdued - and periodically fascinated.

Back to business

Must blog again, must blog again, must blog again!

It's been difficult to restart Jessica in Tokyo after our vacation. My excuses: Jet lag, sleepiness, editing and work, two energetic and demanding kids who want to be back at school - but aren't. And I've become slightly fixated with the TV show Grey's Anatomy, which I'd never seen until a month ago, when I bought the first season on our Apple TV. (I'm generally a snob about TV and like to tell friends that I ignore network shows until they are about five years old, but I'm baring my momentary weakness here.)

Anyhow, I think my procrastination -- which often attacks in times of transition -- has run its course and I'm ready to get back into our normal Japanese life. Lucinda starts school on Monday. Arno starts school on Wednesday - with a full day on Friday.

Then I'll really make progress on my to-do list this fall: pitching more stories to magazines, helping to plan the Book Fair at Nishimachi, keeping up with the blog, and possibly starting an editing business with a friend. More on all of that later.

For now, welcome back to my blog!

Still on vacation!

My blog has been on hiatus, obv, for the past few weeks. We were in Denver for three weeks hanging out with my family, and now Blaine and I and the children are in Seattle for a few weeks to see friends.

And, wow, is it lovely in Seattle! Sunny but cool and so green. We stopped by our house today (which is rented) and I drank in the greenness of the backyard and our many healthy plants. Then we went to the annual Night Out block party with dozens of neighbors.

Our neighborhood has to be among the city's most diverse: longtime residents, lots of young families of every ethnicity, and middle-aged couples with children in high school. When our Tokyo sojourn is finished, I imagine we'll be perfectly happy to move back and restart life here.

I'll be back in Tokyo this Sunday while Blaine and the children will stay in Seattle for another week - and will return just before Lucinda's school starts again.