Bottleneck

The Land of the Rising Sun could arguably also be called the land of functioning alcoholics—the peak of the Showa asset bubble is surely evidence of that. 

This massive asset bubble, rivaling the historic Dutch tulip mania, was brought to you by the global financial institutions flush with endless wads of fiat currency, fueling a nationwide Japanese party that was truly in full swig—ponds of alcohol, forests of meat—was the adage back in the day.

Remember, a tiny piece of land in Ginza the size of a postcard was selling for $7,000 a pop.

For this micro-plot—zoom out for a full, objective perspective—the Imperial Palace of Japan was valued at more than the beautiful state of California in its entirety—what could possibly go wrong ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ 

The samurai salaryman of the roaring 80s had plump, juicy expense accounts—¥100,000 on company-sponsored nights out in the nooks and crannies of bars, snacks, and soapland—making business deals while carousing around, blind to the natural flow of things—as surely as the party starts, surely it will end.

In the aftermath of the implosion, the Japanese economic miracle explosion revealed a much more deeply pressing social phenomenon—a large swath of the Japanese population and their varying degrees of alcoholism.

The overall lack of social services in general makes facing addiction here a very lonely place, living in the wetlands of the nation of Japan inside emerging Civilization Three.

The addicted come in all shapes and sizes, not only the company president who is under highly volatile pressures, the likes of which, in recent times are unprecedented.

Lest we forget the infamous housewife, who is not only drunk in the morning after dropping the children off at school, but has also been borrowing heavily from consumer credit companies to support a lavish lifestyle mimicking the chimpanzee she sees on TV—her long-suffering husband on a long commute, a disposable cog in the massive Japanese industrial wheel.

Is alcoholism a hereditary trait or cultural?

In fact, Japanese people often complain about the lack of a particular enzyme (ALDH2) for breaking down alcohol, making it difficult to rid their bodies of accumulated toxins.

Leave it to the Japanese to excel at developing a plethora of different kinds of hangover remedies—shelves replete with products to relieve the alcohol side-effects and accompanying mental suffering.

On the other hand, a hard and hardy brand of free-range neo-clan avatars thrives—their preferred beverage to imbibe—whisky made from rye—"don't kill the drink," chided the tutelary deity as an alcoholic aside.

The Japanese bubble party in full swing—an international shindig mixing all who congregated in the bubble era of industrial Japan, where Middle Eastern counterparts were quite fond of Single Malt Scotch—chugging it back by the 4-litre jug—just like magnums of Baby Duck, the way it used to be when starting early.

Yes, time marches on, and surely, eventually, alcoholism culminates in the default human condition of pain and suffering, and the things that are wrong can no longer be solved by having just one more drink.