LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Some 10 years ago, a Japanese student at an institute in Bologna where I was a visiting professor produced an essay in which he wrote "because Japan has a unique culture, it is misunderstood and discriminated against by other countries."

"If you were 75," I told him, "I would not be too alarmed, but you are 25. That you should be writing such gibberish at your age is truly alarming."

Every nation has a "unique culture," be it Belgium or Togo. Perhaps Japan's distinction, I said, is that because of its deeply held belief of having a so-called unique culture and thereby being on another planet, "it creates misunderstanding and ostracizes itself from other nations."

I have labeled the "Japan is different syndrome" as the "Narita neurosis," because it begins at Narita's Tokyo International Airport. I travel on a reasonably regular basis to about 40 countries. In virtually all of these countries there is a convention at the airport: "Green channels" are for travelers who have nothing to declare, and "red channels" are for those who have something to declare. Since there are unfortunately cheats in this world, as well as criminals, drug smugglers and so on, suspicious-looking people going through the green channel may be stopped and occasionally checks are made at random.

Narita has adopted this international convention, and there are red and green channels. But at Narita the "unique" flavor to this international convention consists of systematically asking every single traveler going through the green channel to show his/her passport and to ask him/her if he/she has anything to declare. I systematically ask what is the difference between the "red" and the "green" channel. I have even written to Narita Airport authorities. I have never received a reply.

I was pleased recently to find a "kindred spirit" on this theme. Bill Overholt, executive director of strategy and economics at Nomura International in Hong Kong, identified the Narita "green channel" as emblematic of Japan's closed nature -- in contrast to China, where the airports at Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou etc., as in other airports throughout the world, whisk passengers through the green channel.

Why should Japanese green channels be, so to speak, "red." I can think of two possible explanations. The first is Japan's well-known concern about security, hence requiring a thorough inspection of all passengers arriving from overseas. The second is to preserve customs jobs. I suspect that the latter is more probable than the former.

The point is that it does not matter what the motive is. Either or both are perfectly justifiable. If Japan so chooses, it is more than fully entitled, for whatever reason, to have every single passenger checked. This is the case in some U.S. airports where there are no red/green channels. What leads to confusion is the charade of having green channels that are not green channels.

Instead of asserting its individual policy, Japan "pretends" to adhere to international norms, but in fact proceeds to interpret them in its own "unique" (inscrutable!) fashion. As I shall have frequently occasion to illustrate in this series, this is what so often leads to confusion and frustration.

Narita is only the arrival, the beginning. There is much more to come. There are, for example, the famous stories that Japan could not import beef from abroad because Japanese intestines are longer than those of other people. That is from the same "genre" as the ban imposed some years ago on foreign skis because Japanese snow is different! And so are many, many things, including, apparently, Japanese credit cards.

One of the great advances of the last decade or so has been the proliferation of automatic cash dispensers, or ATMs, throughout most of the world. Traveling in the past could be such a hassle in having to obtain foreign currency, travelers checks etc. Today one can travel to most countries without worrying about cash, as at almost every street corner one can find an ATM 24 hours a day. This is not only extremely convenient, but one of the more blatant and positive manifestations of globalization.

Not surprisingly, but sadly, indeed infuriatingly, this is true virtually everywhere except Japan. Certainly there are ATMs all over the place, many of which display the universal emblems of MasterCard and VISA. But in about 99 percent of such places, cash can only be dispensed to holders of MasterCard and/or VISA accounts in Japan.

One has to find an "international automatic cash dispenser" (most of which are run by Citibank) if one has a "foreign" MasterCard or VISA. These are limited and generally available only in the major districts of the large cities. This is another sorry example of Japan's "uniqueness."

(It should be added that it is reprehensible that the companies concerned, VISA and MasterCard, should agree to this and lays them open to questioning their own corporate principles and commitment to globalization.)

In future articles I shall strongly make the point that not only is it possible to maintain national identity in the era of globalization, but highly desirable. A very clear line, however, can and must be drawn between national identity and national exclusion. Indeed, the most brilliant pages of Japan's modern history display a remarkable ability simultaneously to open to the outside and to enrich local culture and institutions.

The kind of "uniqueness" described here is petty, narrow and should be scrapped. If the "Narita neurosis" could be cured, this would constitute a small but significant step toward Japan becoming a more congenial citizen of the global village.