The unspectacular job of rebuilding a society should Concern everyone

THE sun is so hot, the bus-loads of Japanese tourists put away their cameras and deploy fans instead.

The restaurants offer cheap, beautifully-presented local, French and American cuisine. The hotel information sheet lists room service, internet and laundry at discount prices, then adds: “Thank you for your valuable reading time taken.”

At night, visitors heading to dinner in open carriages pulled by mopeds pause at a stall selling souvenirs. The man who owns it has no legs. He sits among his goods and bunts himself around on his hands.