We all know generalizations are dangerous, we shouldn't make them, but we do, especially when there is considerable evidence to support them. Japanese conformity is an example, though we must acknowledge that there is much to suggest a contrasting, imaginative individuality. For example, five perfectly matched cucumbers in a package contrasted with . . . contrasted with . . . well, there must be something other than the youth culture which has always been a bit on the wild side. What prompted this thought was curiosity over the Japanese reaction to the buses covered with ads, another small effort toward balancing Tokyo's budget before we all sink into bankruptcy.

There it is! There is the contrast! Before all buses looked alike except for the discreet destination signs that you cannot see unless the bus is directly in front of you. If you are across the street, you will not know what bus you missed. These are not just buses with advertisements; these are moving works of art, in brilliant color, bringing excitement to our streets. You can taste the candy, smell the coffee, they are that real. But I wonder what effect they have on the Japanese preference for conformity and need for harmony. They don't even look like buses. They look like magazine ads. I'd like to know how it was accomplished so well over just one weekend.

Pondering such questions, I returned home, noticing something that I had almost seen (but never focused on) at other times as I proceeded by car along the obstacle course that my street has become since apartment houses replaced private homes. It was a black T-shirt with a bright thing on it hung on a post. I stopped to see what it was. Of course! It was a scarecrow, erected at the neighborhood garbage site. The shirt was on a hanger, the silver something was a foil plate that hung at chest level, loose enough to move a bit and catch the eye, and hopefully the attention, of any marauding crow. How wonderful to find a scarecrow, fulfilling the mission inherent in its name, in downtown Tokyo, so incongruous and yet so right.

The other day I was invited by Bill Hersey to attend a nightclub show at midday in Roppongi. It was Children's Day and the club had asked a number of children with various handicaps to attend the show. Some had lost one or both parents, some were mentally not quite up to generally accepted norms, some were in an entirely different category, foreigners, but all were a bit isolated from the local community. We were served an o-bento and then enjoyed the show. There were shopping bags of fun gifts for the children as they left. The show was quite amazing, mostly transvestites, spectacularly outfitted and in traditional Japanese settings borrowed from kabuki and history. They were complemented by very attractive women visitors from foreign countries. The continuously changing stage settings were truly amazing and deserve some extra description. They could change magically from flat to steps to platforms to boxes. There was a moving corridor midstage that permitted some unusual effects with boats, people, sports cars and animals appearing and disappearing in quite disorienting ways. Plots were sketchy but easy to understand, although I thought the war scenes from Okinawa were questionable. It probably honored the summit, but it would be best if none of the delegates took it in. It seemed to echo the voice of Japan's far right which left some of us a bit perplexed. Or perhaps I should quote the broader view presented on the program, "We would like you to feel the significance of Okinawa, a place that has been tossed about on the currents of the times, and where we will continue to hand down the meaning of peace and misery of the war at the same time." The club is well worth a visit, but remember, it is a nightclub with its acts oriented toward a predominantly male audience. I will take people there for one of the different views of Japan they often seek. And the finale, a Japanese rendition of Irish step dancing, will send you out tapping. The kids loved it all. For reservations, call Roppongi Kingyo, (03) 3441-0141. An evening, with drinks and light food, will cost around 20,000 yen for two.