Good going, Asia.

　Verdant paddies dotted with ponds, stretching out across the land, slowly crossed by oxen as they valiantly labor. Amidst the humidity which hangs over it all, rice is being cultivated.
　Upon entering the city of Hanoi, one sees... A playhouse built in imitation of Opera Garnier. A church which looks a bit like Notre Dame. Loud and incongruent houses in the western style. Vestiges of French rule can be seen all over.
　Youth gathered on the sidewalk, the seats so low they seem to be squatting, eating box lunches they’ve set beside them on the bench. A family sitting on the bare ground, gathered around a rice cooker. People eating rice. Dogs. Cats. They have all staged an occupation of the sidewalk, and it is impossible to pass. A glance upwards is met with the sight of countless telephone wires. Some of them are snapped and have fallen to the ground.
　Good going, Asia.

　Countless bicycles approach from the other side of the street. A pointless klaxon blares. Were the 3 people on that bike that just cut across the street children? Old women balancing baskets on a pole front-to-back, shouldering an umbrella, as you often see in those Vietnam War movies. The baskets are full of large melons and papaya.
　Under a low ceiling of dark grey clouds, a marathon being held on the shores of Lake Hoan Kiem. Scores of police officers in green uniforms stand at attention along the route. To the side of them, some elderly stand as well, lighting up thick bamboo pipes and puffing the smoke. Runners, as they pass through it all. Runners, clad in uniforms of red, yellow, blue. Half of them barefoot. Run, keep running.
　Good going, Asia.

　Fruits in a riot of colors. Dragon fruit, litchi, durian. Perch, mullet, eel, catfish, snapping turtles, in buckets filled to the brim with water. Quail, frogs, pig’s feet. Fruit and vegetables and fish and animals alike, a brilliant sight spread out before one’s eyes. It goes on and on, they sell just like that, skinned and cut into chunks. In the midst of the heat and humidity, under the shade of the thick tropical canopy which forms the ceiling overhead, all of it is fresh, lively, clean, and vibrant.
　Good going Asia.

　Hanoi resident Ain says, “Japan? Yeah, I know Japan. Doraemon, Dragon Ball, Conan, Naruto, Pokémon. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest.”
　Pretty quick with those answers, aren’t you? Can you name any famous Japanese People?
　“Hidetoshi Nakata. Everyone knows him.”
　That so? 10 years ago, as well, when I visited Morocco, local kids would come up to me going “Nakata, Nakata.” And here we are, and Japan still equals “Nakata”? Does that mean that we haven’t created any new heroes in a decade?