Human Ant Farm?

Forget sumo, when you come to Japan, you soon realize that shopping is the true national sport. You can shop anytime, any place, anywhere.
And the department stores, boutiques and malls are palaces.
The Mori family, like the Japanese Trumps, have cornered the market in these marble and glass temples.
Under the brand name 'Hills' (Ark Hills, Roppongi Hills, Omotesando Hills) they have developed a shopping concept that guarantees a reaction.
Unfortunately my reaction on entering Omotesando Hills above was of a massive science experiment gone wrong. All I could think was, 'This is a human ant farm!'
Seriously, it was like something out of Gattaca - people trudging drone-like through the motions of having a good time.
You can't even really stop as it disturbs the flow of customers. Wait around too long and a guard will very politely ask you to keep moving in procession through the centre... consume, consume, consume.
But even the 'Hills' brand is vulnerable.
I visited 'Roppongi Hills' the same day I took this picture. It was almost deserted.
Before Omotesando opended it was Tokyo's most exclusive shopping, residential and office complex. But it was touched by scandal.
One of it's most high-profile tenants, Takefumi Horie, a multimillionaire internet entrepreneur, was recently arrested for some serious white collar crime. Now he, the comlex and what they stood for are seen as undesirable and people are flocking eslwhere. I
t's another example of the sheep-effect I posted about before, and a warning to anyone thinking of starting a business in Japan to maintain your public 'face' at all costs.
Wow, that turned into quite a rant - sorry about that.
I'll just go back to distributing my copies of 'The Socialist Worker' on the street corner, okay?