Mandyy -- you are a gem for continuing to supply us with all the newspaper articles, and photos when they are available, and I am very thankful. I find this whole situation fascinating - obviously! - and really enjoy learning as much as I can and just trying to understand what is going on. As a Westerner, I am horrified by what does look like a "cruel" culture that Masako is immersed in. Yet, I am trying to understand just what the Japanese culture is to the average person in Japan and to see the importance of tradition, the collective "we" etc. that Charlotte has talked about in this thread. And Japan has some things we in the west could be thinking about a bit IMO -- the almighty "I" in the United States is causing unprecedented issues with anxiety in our own country -- but like most things, I hope for some balance between two extremes. Like most of you -- I continue to hope for a positive outcome for Masako. In a roundabout way, Masako was exposed to the same northeastern US educational culture that I was and knowing the sense of unlimited personal freedom that culture engenders I feel for her in having to restrict those freedoms now. Without at all making light of the situation, I think it would cause me a depression also. Once unlimited personal 'freedom to be' has been tasted it is very hard to stuff back into a box again without repercussions.
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