Japan’s Road to Harmonious Decline
The recent electoral triumph of Yukio Hatoyama’s untested Democratic Party of Japan has confirmed the Japanese public's wish not to follow America’s free-market model. But, while the DPJ's victory reflects Hatoyama's understanding that most Japanese are willing to accept economic stagnation as the price of avoiding painful change, how long can Japan afford this sentiment?
PARIS – Forget what you have heard about the hard-working Japanese salaryman: since the early 1990’s, the Japanese have drastically slackened their work habits. Indeed, Tokyo University economist Fumio Hayashi has demonstrated that the main reason behind Japan’s 20 years of stagnation has been the decrease in the quantity of work performed by the Japanese.