Today I had a meeting at a very large Japanese company. Part of the meeting took place in Japanese so I had a chance to observe the faces of the people who I was meeting with more detail as I could not understand what they said. In so doing I could notice tremendous signs of fatigue. And this was not only true of this meeting but of many meetings that I attended. Especially with executives of large companies. Doing some more research on this I learned about the famous last trains of Tokyo, which run around 1130 and how packed they are. This means that many people stay at the office from 9am to 11pm. And then they commute for over an hour on the average. Now what I can´t understand is how come in Europe we work so much less and yet enjoy a similar standard of living.

These monuments are built in honor of dead babies in Japan

Because the city combines an ancient body with a new skin.

Because in Tokyo fashion comes in many styles at once.

Because they make the biggest type of buildings small.

Because foreign foods taste local.

Because toilets pamper you.

Because everyone is so polite and makes you feel safe.

Because the few children there are, are little princes and princesses.

Because the map of Tokyo must have been drawn by a drunk emperor thousands of years ago.

Because when people don´t understand you…they still try.

Because taxi drivers open the door for you…from their seats.

Because over here you don´t have to look like a geek to love technology.

Because Tokyo is a collection of little villages that blend into a city.

Because the best food they have, miso ramen, is food everyone can afford.

Because your bath tub is expected to overflow.

Because people care that you don´t get sick if they are.

Because the Japanese are as curious about you are you are about them.

Because as strict as they are with rules they still opened Cafe Salvatore in Roppongi tonight because they saw how much we wanted their chocolate cake!

In the era of Google it is surprising to see a lot of human contextual advertising in Japan.

Today Bernard Farret, the DA of Pontoise has accused two poor Continental Airline mechanics of manslaughter because a part of a plane they repaired fell off and ending up causing the death of 113 people. To me it´s obvious that these people are not guilty. I thought that America was the only country in which money and jail sentences were supposed to bring comfort to accident victims or their relatives. But it seems that USA is not alone. Without knowing all the details but being a jet pilot myself I think that it is absurd to think that the accused mechanics could have possibly known, first that the part of the plane would fall off but secondly, that once on the runway it was going to be picked up by another plane and end up in the tragic death of 113 people. I think that justice is there to condemn the guilty, not to find the guilty when accidents happen. And this one was certainly one freak accident. Moreover if mechanics can be put on trial over their work like this how about car mechanics?

The Bush administration came up with this absurd concept of the war on terror as if terror was a tangible enemy that one could truly fight. And using this concoction the US conducted war style operations on civilian populations something that is not only immoral but it only fuels terrorism. Now the paradox is that US ally Israel, a country that truly is at war, denies being at war. And the results are awkward. When USA bombs Somalia as it did yesterday, looking for Islamic terrorists to kill and killing innocent civilians in the process ,the US government justifies its actions by arguing that they are at war with terrorists everywhere. But Israel instead who is at war with a Hamas led Gaza says instead that it is not at War. To me Gaza is a country regardless of whether it´s been recognized by most or not. It has borders, it is independent of the rest of Palestine in its policy making, it has its own government. And Gaza is at war with Israel. Rockets frequently fly from Gaza to Israel and Israel frequently attacks and invades Gaza. There is regular fighting going on. Now while I consider US policy fighting terrorism unreasonable and inhumane as terrorists should be fought by the rule of law, as we do here in Spain, captured, judged and imprisoned and not bombarded from the air I consider Israel´s policy equally confusing. Israel is not fighting terrorists, it is fighting a newly independent country whose government and population are hostile to Israel. Israel is really at war, not USA. And while I was a supporter of the Gaza withdrawal I do agree with many commentators who now say that the withdrawal was a failure and that a West Bank withdrawal would be suicidal. Gazans had a great opportunity to build a new nation and show the way for all Palestine. Instead they have continued to focus on Israel as the source of all evil joining the nations that prefer to play victims than to grow out of their problems. I have always wanted Palestine to be an independent country but unfortunately Gaza has made it very hard for tiny Israel to risk having rockets falling into its civilian population from all sides. In this blog and at my foundation´s I greatly criticized the Israeli invasion of Lebanon for example, an invasion that I considered unnecessary harsh, brutal and counterproductive. But with Gaza Israel has shown tremendous restraint and unfortunately it has not paid off.