[notsurenymore]

Is there a good book or something to understand postwar Japan, I’ve read bits and pieces on the ”economic miracle”, lost decade(s), the trade wars, the demographic crisis etc, but is there a good resource that compiles and connects it all?

[oasisaimlessly]

Not a book, but this article was eye-opening for me: https://aeon.co/essays/a-history-of-kidults-from-hello-kitty...

[gregw2]

Thanks, that was a good piece.

It makes me want to share a story about an additional piece of perspective on what happened with Japan.

I worked for a CEO in the early 90s who was midwestern ex-WallStreet-analyst deeply concerned about American manufacturing competitiveness (and Japan). A little bit after Japan’s market crash he told me in astonished tones “They have chosen not to let anyone go under! They will be (economically) stagnant for 30 years!”

It was for me a profound moment of awareness of the different cultures of US vs Japan. And my boss’s words showed themselves true in the years since. But it was not at all a surprise at the time that Japan would make such a choice; a society where corporations’ obligations to employees and vice versa were much stronger than in the US and s culture of saving face was much deeper. Not so the US culture of Schumpeter’s creative destruction and bankruptcy. What was astonishing was the scale of the choice and impact on their society, glimpsed in a moment.

Chinese culture is different. I predict their current trials will turn out differently. And they have studied hard the lessons of Japan. But I don’t know enough about Chinese culture to know how they will cope with market-crash-type phenomena. Will they silently absorb the losses, or let things go under, or do something completely different? Or maybe choose deliberately lower growth for a while in an attempt to chart a middle course? We will see.