Japan: the path of glacial change

I recently visited Japan again. Like a Charlie Chaplin movie, the action in Japan should jerk forward between time-frames. But it doesn’t. Instead, it’s a game of spot-the-difference, so little have the images shifted. Sure, there are more discount stores around. But the cab ride from the airport still costs $260, a club sandwich in the coffee shop of the Four Seasons is $25 and an orange juice $15. None of these prices would hold in a deregulated economy.