...does my touchpad help. It's challenging enough typing on a laptop (literally) keyboard, but an errant thumb-slouch onto the touchpad midstroke is like locoweed for my cursor, and it runneth amuck, leading to some seriously bad spelling likely - at least in this case - to be misunderstood for misguided attempts at homophobic humor, but that was not my intent.

When I have to rely on the touchpad, hilarious misspellings are likely to follow. My apologies if anyone was offended. More on the touchpad later, maybe.

Traditionally, the Japanese employed seppuku or hara-kiri (lit. stomach cut) to escape disgrace or other awkward situations. As in almost any modern society, inevitably there are those who are left behind, left out, or left over. I never saw any homeless when I was in Japan, but that was a long time ago. Times have changed, but the escape remains the same. Nevertheless, homicides and other violence are relatively rare in Japan.

I understand that many of the suicides are by students who have failed critical exams.

S