The North sends international continental ballistic missiles over Japan quite frequently at the .moment but you never hear anyone ever talking about it. The weapons, which could wipe out whole cities, and populations, are met with shrugs ( why is this ? Can you imagine if, say, Denmark were doing the same over the UK? (“Oh well, it looks like Copenhagen is being ridiculous again… WHATEVER)
It’s a strange state of affairs. Maybe everyone in Japan is more concerned with managing daily life than fretting about wanton and very badly styled megalomaniacs ( someone get Kim Jong a personal stylist RIGHT THIS INSTANT)
or maybe the bigger neighbours – China and Russia – seem to pose more of a palpable existential threat.
Whatever the case, on our way to Tokyo just now it was fascinating to drop in at a photography exhibition at a municipal citizens’ centre in Yokohama called the “People Of Pyongyang.”
North Korea is so secretive, so closed off that you rarely get a glimpse into the daily lives of the people living there. It was very interesting to just see some snapshots (of course, we don’t know the precise stories behind all of these pictures, how much was staged, but even so): I found it rather heartening to see some actual people behind the dehumanized facade.
It looks like they might even use perfume.
The Black Narcissus 
The contention between the Koreas, China, and Japan has always interested me. It’s rarely spoken of but can get quite heated.
I suppose one gets used to ballistic missiles flying overhead. Some of the bizarre threats & intimidation issued (both physical & verbal) from North Korea & China do make me wonder about communism, culture, & the effects on masculinity therein.
The simulated attack & actual bombing of Taiwan’s coast by China after Pelosi’s visit in August was just absurd. Then there’s China’s continuous skirmishes with India due to supposed border disputes. It takes saber rattling to the extreme. Saving “face” with immediate retribution for any real or perceived sleight is a huge part of Asian cultures. This has always puzzled me as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism have so heavily influenced all of Asian societies in their patterned way of ideal thinking and action.
The horror that occurred at the borders of China and India is probably not known generally – the North Korean fuckfest is frankly bizarre
I find the picture of the kids looking through the dinosaur telescope both amusing and problematic. I suppose that is true of so many things that children delight in.
Why problematic? I think it’s cool.
I think it is related to my lack of enthusiasm for most things lizard like. But, I do admit to being interested in the resident wild chameleon that lived in my daughter’s house in the Middle East. He stayed up high and would randomly appear.
North Korea terrifies me. I worry about South Korea and Japan continuously. Any country led by a lunatic is terrifying, and I should know, we had one leading us.
!!
And they loved each other