English Diary 2026
0819 Good morning. Recently, educational background has been a popular topic of discussion on X. Needless to say, discrimination against or ridicule of people on the basis of their academic background is wrong. That discussion reminded me of something else: data suggesting that academic credentials do not necessarily translate directly into higher income. Professor Makiko Nakamuro of Keio University has spoken about this point. It also brought to mind a matchmaking party that I happened to see on television last night. One woman kept saying things to a man such as, "Your annual income is that much, right? That's an impressive income," while looking him in the face and talking almost exclusively about money. She was also dressed from head to toe in designer brands. This is only my conjecture, but if someone were to marry a woman with that kind of attitude toward money, even an annual income of ten million yen might prove entirely insufficient. That would be all the more li...