http://www.mivzakon.co.il/fun/bb.aspx?b=410

We look at this and scratch our heads and say “crazy Japanese, will they ever learn?” but the fact is after the USA blew japan to pieces in WWII, it became a satellite government and an experiment in consumerism. Social planning and media saturation brought one of the proudest peoples of this world to the level of spastic, almost cult-like, conspicuous consumption we see today. The real trick is, that this was an experiment to figure out how to do this to the American people. All you have to do is switch on your TV and it is all to easy to see how we too are slowly being edged into buying the most useless of things at a premium price.