There have been many observations about nostalgia. Nostalgia's not what it used to be, There's no "stalgia" like nostalgia -- but nostalgia is where I am today. I have just returned from three weeks in California, and it is a nostalgia mix, what I have left behind, what I have gained, from living so many years in Japan. During my drive from Narita to Tokyo, and seeing everywhere the changes that have occurred, I remembered 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympics, the year I began writing this column. The games were a showplace for the world to see what Japan had accomplished in the short span of time since World War II ended catastrophically in complete surrender.

The evidence of Japan's recovery was everywhere: the shinkansen, a speed train unmatched in the world linking Tokyo and Osaka. The "Shuto," the expressway encircling Tokyo with turnoffs that in time would link the capital to all major cities. The Hotel Okura which, along with the long-established Imperial, could truly claim to be at the international level, a standard often exceeded by the dedicated personnel. It was a heady time. Foreigners were welcomed and everyone seemed to speak English. I remember talking with a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman in the first-class car of the Yokosuka line. He wore a huge badge that said, I speak English. I asked why he wore it. For the Olympic guests, he said. He also told me he was president of one of Japan's leading banks. Even bank presidents spoke English and talked with strangers so that all visitors would experience the hospitality of the Japanese people.

Next came Expo '70 in Osaka. By then the world was well aware of Japan's recovery and soon experts would be arriving to learn how the miracle could be duplicated. The Japanese pavilion featured a spectacular film show on a gigantic screen, a travel adventure with two children and a talking crane. There were a lot of exciting swoops and sudden turns as the crane flew the children around the world to see famous historic and scenic places, but often there was poverty, decaying cities and unhappy people in the countries they visited, and the children wondered at this disparity between their happiness and the unfortunate conditions they saw elsewhere. The hopeful message seemed to be that someday, in a better world, everyone would be able to enjoy a more pleasant way of life, something, one might assume, that the children were already experiencing.