If someone wants to write a book saying how beautiful Japan is, they can go ahead and write that book. The thing about writing a book is, it is totally different from writing a serious news story for a newspaper. A newspaper journalist is supposed to be objective, get every side of the story. An author on the other hand can let objectivity slide -- they have the permission to let their imagination run wild, and come up with something powerful and creative. DOGS AND DEMONS is that sort of book. It might go far in some respects, but you cannot help but be shaken after reading it.

For every beautiful teahouse or trendy designer shop in Japan, there is at least a couple of acres of really depressing, concrete covered "mansion" lands. Whichever Nihonjin came up with the idea of calling those ugly, soulless rows of apartment blocks "mansions" deserves to be shot in the head for cruelty to the people -- but not after being awarded a medal for brilliance in marketing! In other countries, you have to be a millionaire to live in a mansion. In Japan anyone can live in a mansion!

The question is: if you were really a millionaire, where would you want to live? Beverly Hills? The South of France? Tokyo or Kyoto? Japan might be interesting, but is it a great place to live? As far as I am concerned, the only thing it has going is its futuristic vibe -- and China these days seems to be getting more futuristic than Japan. When the Olympics are held in Beijing in 2008, you will see how futuristic China has become.