"When Tokyo Hooters finally launched at the end of October, an entirely male line of customers waited outside for hours before the 5 p.m. opening. As they filed inside one by one (after a ribbon cutting presided over by Miss Hooters International, LeAngela Davis), we lined up and cheered them to their tables. The inaugural customers weren't backslapping, beer-guzzling foreigners, or even raucous office workers out for a laugh. They were exceedingly polite young men, some of whom blushed at the big welcome. Many had an endearingly nerdy familiarity with the restaurant. 'We've been waiting,' a spectacled Japanese man told me in English, then unrolled a signed Hooters T-shirt [...]

Dear Paige, I'm thinking of expanding my horizons by going to teach English in Japan. But first, I want to know if it's true. Can an average-looking American white guy clean up over there? With the Japanese ladies, I mean.

Dear Reader, I'm glad I made up this question, because I've been wanting to talk about the demise of a cultural icon: the inexplicably popular white dude in Japan, a.k.a. the "Charisma Man."

AKB48, the 48-girl pop group named after Tokyo's legendary nerd quarter, Akihabara, is big in Japan. Like, ridiculously huge, Justin Bieber in a Miley-Cyrus-Taylor Momsen sandwich big.

Naturally, they're looking to expand globally.