My comments on this will be equally or more impressionistic than Marty's.
To the casual observer (especially the first-time visitor from the US) there
are no obvious signs
that Japan suffered through a decade (or more) of stagnation (and now may be
headed toward
worse). IMO this has something to do with cultural tendencies which if not
uniquely Japanese
are distinctively so (yes, I know about the pitfalls of cultural essentialism).
There is a strong emphasis
on public hygiene and sartorial splendor (especially WRT young women) so the
slovenly tourist
from Peoria cannot help but be blown away by what seems to be a hyper-affluent
society. (Unless
said Peorian is non-plussed by un-American modest houses and tiny vehicles.)
These perceptions will wane once one gets away from the beaten track of the
Tokyo-Kansai corridor
and heads for towns and villages of the provinces. In many a town and village
center you will see
evidence of economic disinvestment (i.e. physical decay) which if not on a par
with Flint is on a par, with,
say, typical struggling Main Street U.S.A. How much this has to do with
long-term demographic trends,
how much it has to do with socio-spatial restructuring, and how much it has to
do with the 1990's slump
is not known to me, but at least the latter two "factors" are deeply
interconnected. For example, during the
1990's, struggling small-to-medium size industry in the sticks, accustomed to
being sub-contractors to
the Tokyo-Kansai conglomerates, either went under altogether (more often) or
relocated to China (less so).
Backwoods localities got by on public works pork from the LDP and the Ministry
of Construction. Then the
Koizumi "neo-liberal" (of a sort) faction of the LDP became influential (if not
hegemonic) and this type of
patronage was significantly curtailed.
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