This & That, Ceci et Cela

I mean, far be it from me to say our Jap peeps are freaks: "enjo kosai", "enko" for short--sex or quasi-sex with generally middle-aged men in return for cash handouts. "Enko is everywhere," she says. "You just stand there in your school uniform and men'll come up to you, asking for enko." If she accompanies a man to a restaurant or a karaoke box, she gets 5,000 yen to ...

People paying good money for classes on how to be like a "celeb": "On a sunny Sunday afternoon in May, more than three dozen women, most in their 20s and early 30s, took turns sashaying across a small conference room on the 49th floor of the tony Roppongi Hills complex. Chins up, broad smiles across their faces, they were clearly having fun "learning" to walk the walk of stars. ...