Bookstores, health-food shops and websites are awash with products that claim to sharpen the aging brain. Flight A trip down memory lane is particularly welcome in a country that lost its groove a decade ago and can't seem to get it back. After a brief rebound, the stock market is tanking again. Even some of the nation's best companies are in trouble, with bankruptcies on the rise and unemployment at record levels. The cars, TVs and other consumer products that earned Japan a reputation for quality have been sullied in a series of defects, cover-ups and recalls.
Suicide rates are at all-time highs.
Politicians, as usual, are dithering and bereft of inventive ideas. Even baseball has been given a black eye. Just this month, a Giants player was accused of assaulting a woman and will have to sit out the Series. Hotshot pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is embroiled in a scandal over a speeding ticket and a parking violation. There's no doubt about it, Japan has a world-class case of the blahs.