Unemployment is near to postwar highs and people openly use the word “poor” to describe themselves; something that ordinary Japanese would never have admitted before. China is about to overtake Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy. South Korean electronics brands are conquering global markets. Foreign direct investment in Japan plunged 56 per cent last year. Fashion brands such as Versace and Hugo Boss have closed their flagship stores in Tokyo with the message that Japan is no longer worth bothering about.
And straddling it all is the global recall fiasco that has savaged the reputation of Toyota — a blow to national pride.
The Doomedness is being played out in the pages of Manga comics, which have now gone from chirpy Naruto to the dismal (and I dare say, Doomed) despair of The Lower Depths. The article is here at timesonline (article has now disappeared - edited 08.2017).
Frankly I thought only America felt Doomed, but maybe that's because I live here. Although there's a certain undercurrent of it (outside thne 2012 freakshow), I guess most people still think you can fight a three trillion dollar war without raising taxes or mortgaging the farm. In fact, you can't, and Doomed Japan is going to end up quite a lot less Doomed than the Good Ol' US of A.
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