The Japanese quagmire has been getting deeper for years, but now the unique factors that supported its catastrophic indebtedness have reversed. And the endgame has started.

Country of the Setting Sun.

Today is a national holiday in Japan: “Respect for the Aged Day.” That’s why the Ministry of Health released a slew of age-related statistics. Most astounding: the huge number of centenarians. And just how healthy they still are.

Many Japanese don’t understand why it’s still being done when most of the world opposes it. Yet it’s still being done: Japanese whalers caught 195 whales under a “research” program. But other countries do it, too. Yup, even us.

All Japanese prime ministers since Koizumi slither down a steep slope for 8 – 15 months. When their popularity drops into the teens, they’re axed. The latest new guy is Yoshihiko Noda. His popularity during the first round of polls is still high. But oh no! His new ministers are talking.

The undergarment of the guys in the photo of “Yakuza: We Have to Evolve Our Business Model” (below) is a fundoshi, the traditional Japanese undergarment for men. Nowadays, it’s mainly used during festivals to show off machismo—to gird their loins for….

An earthquake struck Tokyo around noon on September 1, 1923, while people were cooking lunch over open fires: Over 100,000 people burned to death in the city “built of wood and paper.” Now, September 1 is “Disaster Prevention Day.” And it’s time to go shopping for foldable helmets.

Birthday surprise for her husband: a woman and five friends dug a deep hole on a beach in Ishikawa Prefecture, put mattresses at the bottom, covered the hole with a plastic sheet, and sprinkled sand on it. Her husband would fall in and everyone would have a grand old time. The outcome was tragic. And they didn’t even have the required permit.