Looking back at what I wrote in this space this time last year, I find that I was dreaming of a Japan of the United States, in which the regions become city states unto their own and make Japan a generally more interesting place. The dream still remains but a dream. But I keep hoping.
So what of my dreams this time round? It has to be said that they are rapidly taking on a nightmarish quality.
2007 closes on a note of great anxiety — anxiety over the state of the global financial market.