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Ideas Cup: Japan 2, ROW 1

This week's issue of The Economist includes three stories about Japan's trade in ideas with the rest of the world:

1. Meterosexuality describes the phenomenon of young urban men getting in touch with their feminine side. Though, the article doesn't mention it, I reckon that Japanese men have led this trend and were at least 5 years ahead of the US and Europe.
2. Within two years, most cameras will be embedded in mobile phones. (And I said this trend would never last...) As everyone knows, Japan has led the world in the of innovation mobile telephony and digital photography.
3. As if to ensure that its trade surplus in ideas doesn't get too great, Japan has also imported the hitherto largely Western concept of spending instead of saving. This seems very strange for a country in the grips of deflation, but makes a bit more sense when you look at how quickly the Japanese population is greying.