We were introduced to a great Japan cycling story, American Charles Scott, who not only decided to ride the length of Japan by bike, but, and this is the really adventurous part, he did it with his 8-year old son, Sho.

The Nikkei carried a feel-good article about Japan's top three banks had cut their Non-performing Loans (NPLs) to small and mid-size companies -- however, government propaganda has its own language and smell.