Louise Painchaud is a lanky, lusty Albertan woman who sticks out wherever she goes. But never has she been more painfully obvious than in Japan, where her height, her bulk, and her Western directness make her the object of giggles and stares. This is the Japan of the eighties, flush with money, wild with possibility, afflicted with a severe case of self-worship -- expressed most vividly in the country's adoration of a slim golden pop star named Oro.