Japan faces a stark choice these days: Either open up to gaijins—foreigners—or face economic collapse.
There was a time Japan was the world’s second largest economy, on track to bypass the world’s largest economy, the US.
Scores of books and editorials praised the country’s advantages. Like its state of the art management, hard working and well-disciplined labor force, sound economic policies and technological progress.
That was back in the 1980s, when the Japanese economy was growing at a fast pace, and Japanese corporations were collecting American landmark trophies.
Now, Japan is the world’s third largest economy, almost one-third of the size of China and less than one-fourth of America, barely growing, and mired in debt. And its per capita GDP falling. In the most recent quarter, Japan’s GDP grew at 0.79%, and its debt to GDP ratio reached 240%.