Recently the cover of the British magazine The Economist showed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama in kimono (with an erupting Mount Fuji in the background), to illustrate its feature story, "Turning Japanese: Debt, default and the West's new politics of paralysis."
Domestically, particularly in the aftermath of the March 11 quake and tsunami, there has been a "Galapagos" trend of turning away from the wider world.
Countering such images of Japanese stagnation and inwardness is the presence of such Japanese global citizens as Ms. Yoko Ono as she received the 8th Hiroshima Art Prize for her peace efforts, Mr. Seiji Ozawa actively conducting once again, and Mr. Ryuichi Sakamoto organizing a project to replace school musical instruments lost in the earthquake and tsunami.