Anyone feeling down on Japan's future and in need of a pick-me-up should listen to Hisham Badr, a former Egyptian ambassador to Tokyo and an ardent admirer of Japanese tradition.
In a new book written in Japanese, Badr says the Arab world, including Egypt, has remained a great believer in Japan's economic success story, although few Japanese are aware of this respect.
The Arab people first became fascinated with Japan's modernization when it won the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and became the first non-Western, non-Christian country that could compete with the Western powers.