A recent spate of articles in The New York Times comparing Japan's overall condition with America's was so welcome in Japan that the gist of the initial article was read out by a questioning lawmaker in the Diet.
The article by Eamonn Fingleton (New York Times, Jan. 6) painted a rosy picture of Japan. Fingleton's update of Ezra Vogel's "Japan as Number One" study was an answer to TV analysts like David Gergen, who described Japan on CNN as "a very demoralized country."
The articles were partially a response to rightwing American pundits like Gergen who insist that Japan is more failure than success. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.