Junichi Nishimura's novel, "Mimi Tokyo Paris", is a reminder, if ever one were needed, that today most everything is globalized, even love.

It is also a call to Japan's youth to "get globalized" and not be left behind by the dynamic youth of China and Korea, the eternal rivals of Japan.

Mimi is "TJ", typically Japanese.  She has completed postgraduate studies, but is wasting her life away working in a coffee shop.

Sensing that she must do something with her life, Mimi goes to Paris, the City of Light and Love.  There she meets Eddie, a young French boy enamored with all things Japanese, from manga and anime to sushi and karaoke.

Mimi's encounter with Eddie is her first real experience of love, and turns her life upside down, especially when he returns to Tokyo with her.  But it is Mimi's friendship with Sandy, a Chinese colleague at the coffee shop, which inspires her interest in China, an economic dynamo which may offer her more opportunity than her own country.

The twists and turns in this story of contemporary society make for gripping reading.

Nishimura, the author, claims as his mission the desire to encourage the peace-minded youth of North East Asia to wrest power from the region's older generations, whose mind sets are locked in the conflictual attitudes of past history.

This is most certainly an ambitious agenda, but one which is definitely worthwhile.  North East Asia is perhaps the most dynamic part of the global economy, but one where stability and security is threatened by political rivalries.  A youth-driven peace movement holds the promise of political reconciliation that older generations seem incapable of.

As to Japan itself, its youth are crushed by the weight of an archaic hierarchical society, and a political gerontocracy, as evidenced by the government's inadequate response to the 3/11 triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

The only hope for a Japanese renaissance lies with its youth.  Let's hope that Nishimura's writings can inspire his country's youth into action!

Reference:

Mimi Tokyo Paris: A Tale of Love and Globalization, by Junichi Nishimura.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mimi-Tokyo-Paris-Tale-Globalization/dp/1462005616