Reason No. 6: Prices

This may sound like an easy one, but I think I'm generally well adjusted to high prices in Japan. Fruit costs more per pound than gold here (my local grocer was selling a small bunch of grapes recently for nine bucks), so I just cut that minor food pyramid level out of my diet. Similarly, a potted orchid plant runs for about the equivalent of 100 dollars, so I decorate my apartment with sunflowers instead.

But today, at the Nagoya Maruzen book store of all places, I experienced my long overdue "what the @*$& am I doing here?!" moment. I had been searching for The New Yorker for 11 and a half months with no success. I haven't liked being without it for so long, because it is fun to read and reading it makes me feel smarter than most everyone else. Today, I happened to glance at the English magazine rack in the dark "English books" corner, and there it was. Three copies of the slim early September issue were just lying there, right next to GQ and Wired. My knees weakened instantly as I thought about that long flight home...

Then I looked at the price. 15 dollars.

Japan really doesn't have a soul.