About 20 miles or so south of here you start to see almost as many horses and buggies as you see cars. Your on the fringe of what is known as Ohio Amish country or as it is also called Ohio Dutch country. Forty or so miles south east of here and you might as well be in another century. You have the largest concentration of Amish and Mennonites in the country or for that matter in the world.
Naturally, this is a big tourist draw. People who want to see olde crafts and folkways are naturally attracted to this area. Where else are you going to see people living almost the same lifestyle they did 200 or 300 years ago?
Personally, when I go down and spend the day in Dutch country I get a bigger kick out of watching the tourists than I do out of watching the Dutch. The tourists come from all over the world to places like Kidron, Mt. Hope, Charm and all places in between.
I find the Japanese tourists to be the most interesting to observe. The sense I get from the Japanese is that they are comparing the traditional crafts of the Amish with what they have seen of the traditional crafts of Japan. You can see this in the way they examine olde style tools or their interest in food making processes.
Up until about 150 years ago the Japanese had been in more or less self imposed isolation from the rest of the world for about 200 or so years. The Japanese apparently did not want to be bothered by the rest of the world. They were content to practice their traditional arts, crafts and folkways without western interference.
My totally un-scientific, intuitive hunch is that the Japanese have a certain nostalgia for their classical arts, crafts and folkways and would really rather be left alone. I really think they have proved everything that they set out to prove 150 years ago and are now at a turning point once again.
Your email pal,
Tom L.
pms wrote:
> Tom. Because they think we're dangerous and mad? Or what? Could this
> happen without a structure of conflict, I wonder. Like the Cold War.
>
> I hope they'll still send cars.
>
> pms
>
> At 03:26 PM 2/8/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >Dear Doug,
> >
> >As I have mentioned before, I think there is a chance of the Japanese
> going into
> >isolation for a century or two. And let me assure you it has nothing to
> do with
> >steel dumping or trade relations or even the balance of payments etc.
> >
> >Your email pal,
> >
> >Tom L.
> >
> >Doug Henwood wrote:
> >
> >> Tom Lehman wrote:
> >>
> >> >Let me see if I got this straight, what your saying is that accumulation
> >> >at this
> >> >point in time isn't in the best interests of the Japanese or for that
> >> >matter the
> >> >rest of the world and that the Japanese should start spending a little
> bit of
> >> >that accumulated cash on a world -wide basis. Or am I putting words in
> your
> >> >mouth.
> >>
> >> No, the Japanese working class should rise & expropriate the means of
> >> production, of course.
> >>
> >> Doug
> >
> >