Contemplating Peace

When I moved to Japan I was extremely amused by the sometimes seemingly random English words used as brand names. Here, you can by Happiness after all. It's a fabric softener. You might also use Attack! and Wide Fighter on your clothes as they are detergents.

Meanwhile the cigarette shops offer the thin and delicate Pianissimo (I have always argued that they should also sell cigars called Forte, for balance) and the ever humble Peace.

I can't tell if it's amusing or not to come across this empty pack on the ground, brand proclaiming something my home country seems incapable of achieving or maintaining.

Peace we do not have in America. We're either complicit in violence committed against our own people or we are standing up against it. There is no peace without justice and right now there is quite little of that, too.

But here in Japan, we can smoke Peace and throw the remnants on the ground. We are safe for now, but how can we help?

For now, we wait.