Teraoka Masao, NTT's general manager in Singapore, says he can reserve a boardroom at the headquarters with his card.

CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek

In part because wastage has been justified as a means of maintaining social harmony, says Masao Miyamoto, a psychiatrist who wrote a bestselling book entitled Straitjacket Society.

FORBES: Opiate of the masses

In part because inefficiency has been justified as a means of maintaining social harmony, says Masao Miyamoto, a psychiatrist who wrote a bestselling book entitled Straitjacket Society.

FORBES: Opiate of the masses

"It's a way of expressing themselves as a group, " says Miyamoto Masao, social critic and author of the book Straitjacket Society, who sees the oversized socks as just one sign of increasing independence among today's teens.

CNN: A SOCK TO THE SYSTEM