Few farming-marine sectors in Japan have seen such extreme boom and bust conditions as the pearl industry. A recent report in the Nikkei says that Japanese pearls are now experiencing a mini-boom.

Even in 2018 the capacity for Japanese major corporations and politicians to shock us with their obliviousness towards social trends and changing standards is astounding.

The theory is that lies are more acceptable when the person telling them (or someone minding that person) ameliorates the situation afterwards by giving additional context to suggest the lie could have happened if the circumstances were different.

The reality is that there is a worsening shortage of suitable candidates at suitable prices, and so companies are finding it easier to hire from the international marketplace, and use their existing staff to fill the language gaps.