Yesterday I took a two hour flight to Seoul from Narita. It was a pleasure to fly Japan Airlines ... Great service, large comfortable seats, more leg-room. Some quick observations: for one of the largest cities in the world it did not feel crowded; it was immaculately clean; there were an impressive number of public gardens and green spaces; the Imperial Palace area was spectacular with it's castle, moat, and forests much as they were hundreds of years ago; finally the old and the new in such close proximity was a real treat. For instance, a thousand year old Buddhist statue might be yards away from a new behemoth office building of glass and concrete.
What we Americans do not know about Japan in particular and Asia in general is staggering ... Ever see pictures and video of what the fire bombing did to Tokyo in Woeld War II? Know anything about the very serious border disputes with China? Know that many Korean civilization landmarks were destroyed by Japanese in various invasions over time? Know anything about the Chinese fishing boat captain that was just released? A critically important part of the world and we ought to know something about it. ENOUGH SERMONIZING!
