"This is not my blood": In June, an 11-year-old Japanese schoolgirl murders an 12-year-old classmate, apparently because the victim had been making fun of her on the Web. The Washinton Post article, reprinted in the Globe, on the escalating violent crimes of Japanese youth. also mentions "hikkomori syndrome", a total withdrawal from society that may affect up to a million Japanese adolescents.

Sometimes I think Japan is 15 minutes into our future... sometimes I think I'm in no hurry to get there.