So today was an odd day, stabbing in Akihabara aside.  Sunday around noon, and I got a knock on my door.  Standing there were two young Japanese men in suits, who very politely introduced themselves after recovering from my appearance.  I suppose they were not expecting... well... someone so white.  Anyway, after seeing I spoke the language they launched into their missionary work.  What follows is the conversation, roughly...

   

Dude: So as you know Tokyo is getting dangerous.

Me: Really?  I don’t think so.

Dude2: The times we live in people are less trustworthy.

Me: It’s pretty safe compared to New York actually.  I think its great.

Dude: But society is crumbling.

Me: I think we are lucky to live in such a peaceful and secure society.

This is basically not how they were hoping the conversation would go.  What they were hoping for, actually was me to say...

Me: OH MY GOD! You are right.  The world is going to hell in a Fendi basket!

Dude: Our church will teach you how to survive in this world of danger and immorality.

Me: Where do I mail my soul?  And do I get a T-Shirt?

It made me quite sad on reflection, that these missionaries meant to use scare tactics about the state of what I consider a comparatively good society.  I mean, that would be an OK pitch for someone selling me a newspaper, to keep abreast of the slow demise of the world, but not for selling me on a savior.  Besides, and I tried to let them down easy, I’ve already got one of those. 

Basically, Im sure 97% of Tokyoites would immediately begin agreeing with their gloom and doom. I basically am an optimist about humanity.  And more than that Im a realist about the way things are now.  And in the case of Japan... they are VERY VERY good.  But there is an overwhelming pessimism that shrouds Tokyo.  Despite the fact that this is one of the safest places on earth, people go around like at any moment they might get attacked by a knife wielding maniac.

Then I turned on the TV.  Perhaps to the glee (knowing they were right) of those missionaries, a knife wielding maniac had killed 7 and wounded 10 people in Akihabara today.  But still, I’m not phased.  In fact, I’m more upset that the stabbing is now the only thing being reported on the news.  Like every minute of every news broadcast.  The death and injury of those innocent people is horrific.  I feel awful for them, and it is a tragedy.  BUT also happening in the news right now is a G8 summit in Aomori, northern Japan discussing, for one, the now $138 per barrel price of crude oil.  While far less exciting visually, it is tremendously, unspeakably, ground-shakingly more important.  It also concerns the lives and livelihoods of dare I say billions of people.

I went out of the house to get away from the TV.  As I make my way to my favorite coffee shop, I see all the people I’m passing carrying one sheet newspapers. On the corner a squat man in a suit is passing out the “Extra Extra Read All about It!!!” crap that gets printed when “BIG NEWS” happens here in Tokyo.  Read all about it... 7 dead in Akihababra.  For the next week to a month, this will be the only thing anyone talks about.

Statistically, about 80 people kill themselves each day in Japan (80 > 7).  This is very high compared to most countries.  According to what the inter-tube-web-machine tells me, Japan ranks number 10 in the world.  Ahead of it are countries like... Lithuania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovenia.  What is wrong with this list?  Something is seriously wrong when the worlds second richest nation, with near to no unemployment, also not on the brink of civil war, or really any war is suffering from suicide rates similar to that of places with desperate poverty and dare I say a lack of hope.

The media isn’t helping the Japanese outlook on life.  Perhaps missionaries are needed in Japan.  But ones that spread a gospel of hope, optimism and a general belief in man’s capacity for good.  Perhaps though the “good news” doesn’t sell as well these days as bad news.