After three years here, I believe the essence of the difference between Japan and India can be summed up thus: In India, nothing works, but everything can be arranged (for a consideration, of course); in Japan, everything works, but nothing can be arranged. One of the surprising aspects of life in Japan is an antiquated banking system for ordinary customers. Combined with the wonderful politeness and extraordinary self-control of Japanese society, the end result can be a frustrating sense of impotence, for one is not allowed explosions of rage as a way of letting off steam.

Many years ago, I started a Japanese studies program at my former university in New Zealand. We wanted to bring over a Japanese candidate for interview. The interview was arranged at short notice, and we did not have the time to process the payment for the air tickets through the regular university system. I phoned the travel agent in Tokyo and offered to pay for the ticket on my credit card -- a routine procedure at the time in New Zealand. To my astonishment, this was not possible, and we had to make alternative arrangements.

Credit cards have become routine and commonplace, but not checks. Automated teller machines are also very common, so perhaps this is not quite the cash-heavy society of international folklore. But in many respects the banking practices of Japan are reminiscent more of India than a typical Western industrialized country. One by one, we discovered that services that we had taken for granted in Australia and New Zealand were far too radical and revolutionary for Citibank in Tokyo -- even though Citibank was said to be among the most progressive banks operating in Japan.