We all know generalizations are dangerous, we shouldn't make them, but we do, especially when there is considerable evidence to support them. Japanese conformity is an example, though we must acknowledge that there is much to suggest a contrasting, imaginative individuality. For example, five perfectly matched cucumbers in a package contrasted with . . . contrasted with . . . well, there must be something other than the youth culture which has always been a bit on the wild side. What prompted this thought was curiosity over the Japanese reaction to the buses covered with ads, another small effort toward balancing Tokyo's budget before we all sink into bankruptcy.

There it is! There is the contrast! Before all buses looked alike except for the discreet destination signs that you cannot see unless the bus is directly in front of you. If you are across the street, you will not know what bus you missed. These are not just buses with advertisements; these are moving works of art, in brilliant color, bringing excitement to our streets. You can taste the candy, smell the coffee, they are that real. But I wonder what effect they have on the Japanese preference for conformity and need for harmony. They don't even look like buses. They look like magazine ads. I'd like to know how it was accomplished so well over just one weekend.

Pondering such questions, I returned home, noticing something that I had almost seen (but never focused on) at other times as I proceeded by car along the obstacle course that my street has become since apartment houses replaced private homes. It was a black T-shirt with a bright thing on it hung on a post. I stopped to see what it was. Of course! It was a scarecrow, erected at the neighborhood garbage site. The shirt was on a hanger, the silver something was a foil plate that hung at chest level, loose enough to move a bit and catch the eye, and hopefully the attention, of any marauding crow. How wonderful to find a scarecrow, fulfilling the mission inherent in its name, in downtown Tokyo, so incongruous and yet so right.