Putting aside the content of the article, the photo of the "Cherry tree with temple in background. Chubu Region, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. " is actually a photo of Matsumoto Castle (in Nagano Prefecture).
28 years of living in Japan and the author can't identify Matsumoto Castle (one of the country's most notable) at a glance? Not a good start.
http://www.onbeing.org/program/pico-iyer-the-art-of-stillnes...
From article: ------------ I can't read — I can't — to this day, I can't read or write Japanese. And I'm at the mercy of things around me. I can't have the illusion that I'm on top of things. Japan was a place that I had a huge amount to learn from, and I'm still learning it.
That's a pretty high bar. Newspapers, news magazines and technical materials (economics, poli-sci, math, circuits, algorithms, mechanical designs, chemical processes)are straight forward enough. And enough to consider one functionally literate, I would contend. Enough to participate in day-to-day culture, I would contend.
Japanese literature can be completely different level of challenging.
reminds me of teens today who feign ignorance of popular music and only listen to classic rock or some other specific genre and love to criticise others' taste in music.
And they left. Every ~3 years or so.
Even that would kill me. For me, literacy is job one. I never understood how an adult would be - could be - willing to be functionally illiterate as an adult.
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/japan-chubu-reg...
Makes it almost certain the author did not pick this caption at all.