As the world spins faster and faster on its axis, threatening to cut off our supply of gravity and fling us into outer space, Japan is left wondering what to do next.

At this very moment company presidents around the country are scratching their bar code heads thinking, "What can we do to keep our place in the global economy? How do we maintain our gravitational pull in the world?" And though the answers are there, staring them in the face, the answers are hard for them to see. Take our small island of 651 people. Once a popular sea side resort, it has been abandoned by the Japanese who nowadays prefer air conditioned shopping malls and movie theaters. The islanders complain that no one comes to the beach anymore. This year I often heard Japanese people say, "It's too hot to go to the beach." Go figure.

But the young people still come to the beach. The 10-year-olds, that is. Parents still bring their children to swim in the calm waters of the Seto Inland Sea. But the parents themselves don't swim. While the children swim, the parents watch on the stifling hot beach, the women hidden behind layers upon layers of specially lined UV protective umbrellas, arm covers, gloves and wide-brimmed hats, all performing in sync. If you could buy burkas on the beach in Japan, they'd be very popular.