Counter to the trend of comments here, I found the article uninsightful and without focus. He has vague gripes, but no apparent understanding of (or empathy for

Counter to the trend of comments here, I found the article uninsightful and without focus. He has vague gripes, but no apparent understanding of (or empathy for) Japan's social drivers. It's hard to respond to the article as a whole, so I'll just focus on one misconception, about "stagnant" living standards. My Japan was Tokyo and Kanagawa of the 1980s-90s. It was brilliant and daring. It was the future. It was darn expensive. I was both in awe and angered by it, because life there was terribly unfair for the Japanese. Quality of life for individuals was always sacrificed for the good of the state and big companies. All of the wonderful things you hear about 1980s Japan were in the public space. In the private space, life was pretty miserable, as in nearly-3rd-world-slum level of miserable. Housing, though expensive, was shoddy and uncomfortable. Workers suffered long hours and harsh management. Prices for relatively poor quality consumer goods were kept high to support lower prices for higher quality exported goods. Dental care was abysmal quality. I could go on. Private life in Japan today is hardly recognizable. My impression is that quality of daily life is now equivalent to the nicer Western countries. I think this is primarily due to changing social attitudes over the 1990s. Japanese traveled a lot and saw how much better life was in other countries, and decided to demand the same of life at home. I really miss 1980s Japan (it was great for me), but life for the average person there is vastly better now than it was then.