American man #1: What did you do during your break [the 10-day Golden Week holiday celebrating the end of the Heisei Era (1989-2019) and the start of a new imperial era, Reiwa, which means "beautiful harmony" in English]?
American man #2: I grew a beautiful and harmonious beard. You?
American man #1: Same.
— High Five Salad, Ichigaya, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Overheard by a Japan Times On
Sunday reader.
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