Nail on the head! The concept of money is a useful tool for when direct barter doesn't work. Unfortunately it's now being used as tool for control.
Btw, you forgot to add the promised links. I'd love to look at them.
Also, I've never been to Japan, but it's interesting to see as you walk along that it's more similar to parts of UK than I would have imagined.
Ah! So I did! I’ll get those links up soon.
Funny you should mention similarities between the UK and Japan. There are also a lot of cultural similarities, to my thinking. I think the fact that both are smaller island nations plays into this.