A New Development Model for Japan: Selected Essays 2000-2008 by Akira Kojima. The Japan Journal, 2009, 362 pp., ¥2,625 (cloth) "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," wrote Charles Dickens in the opening passage of his famous novel "A Tale of Two Cities." Although written 150 years ago, the sentiment aptly describes Japan's current predicament, barely two decades after seeming on the cusp of global economic supremacy.