How we hate each other.
The pertinent Japanese word is kireru, suggestive of a sudden outburst of uncontrollable rage. The Asahi Shimbun last month described a kireyasui shakai (a society in which it's easy to lose your temper). Surveying 1,586 individuals at random, it found 29 percent admitted they had exploded at strangers. Thirty-nine percent said they'd been victims of explosions. Seventy-six percent said they feel explosiveness rising.
"On a train station platform I asked a young man to stop smoking. 'Old hag!' he shouted. Then he spat in my face."