For more than a decade, I have always stayed home during the week of Aug. 13 through 16, a period during Japan's Bon holidays.
Buddhists believe that this is the time when their ancestors' souls return to visit their relatives. Many Japanese either go back to their hometowns or go on vacation. Summer resorts are so crowded that one can hardly relax. So I never left Tokyo last week.
Ironically I had many more TV, radio and other media appearances than usual. Viewers and listeners can take a break, but news program producers can't and they must broadcast something. That's why they chose U.S. President Donald Trump as the topic, and probably me as I was one of the few commentators left in Tokyo last week.