Way back in the heady 1960s, Japan was one big Cathedral of Optimism, and I found myself among a people who believed their country was finally on that road laid out before them in the post-feudal Meiji Era (1868-1912) to "catch up with and overtake" the West. And indeed, by the end of the decade Japan's annual gross domestic product was second only to that of the United States, and many believed — just as they do with China now — that it would someday be No. 1.
By the 1980s, boom years were upon us, and the Cathedral of Optimism was bulging at the buttresses. The economy was soaring ever upward, deftly evading obstacles ... until, that is, the soaring turned to ballooning and the economy dropped to the ground in the early 1990s and the asset-price bubble burst.
Ever since then, the deflated economy has remained grounded, as its very fabric rots for want of comprehensive repair.