Every era in the life of a country begs for creators to define it and give it momentum for its society to progress. Politicians, economists and bureaucrats seem to believe that culture rides on the wave of the economy — but the opposite is true. It is on progressive waves of culture that economic achievement rides and moves forward.
This is particularly true of a close-knit society such as Japan's, where ideas, images and trends circulate swiftly, due largely to the power of the national print and electronic media. Here, various forms of cultural expression have given meaning and direction to society since the end of World War II . . . with the embarrassing exception of the era we are living in today.
The poverty of our present times is doubly dire: poor in spirit, poor in lifestyle choices. The Japan that is greeting the year 2009 is, in a word, adrift.