They’re facing a unique economic situation where their economy isn’t growing and prices are decreasing. When prices decrease, people hold on to their money (after all, it will have more buying power in the future). When people don’t spend, the economy slows down. They tried lowering interest rates to $0 to try to motivate spending...hasn’t worked. They give stimulus a lot and have expirations on the debit cards they give to force spending...doesn’t really work. They’re running out of tools to get the economy growing again. This is the reason central banks aim for 1-2% inflation - it encourages spending which is good for the GDP.
Pretty sh*tty if you don’t land a coveted salaried position out of college. Seriously, read up on the generation of workers who can only get part time work, they feel like outcasts in their society. About equivalent to our Gen X and Gen Y. When Japan’s economy was booming everyone got salaries jobs for life. Now only the most qualified do and everyone else is forced to scrape by on part time work that’s highly regulated by the government in terms of hours worked.
- rapidly aging population (senior citizens don't buy anything, don't participate in labor force)
- women with a job have zero incentive to get married or have kids because of many cultural restrictions on married women (historically they lose their job, and husbands are home very late.) They buy their own condos now and stay single.
- consumer companies missed the Internet boom (Apple stole Sony's lunch)
- Japanese are legendary savers, not spenders. (It's considered shameful to not have $100k in the bank at all times.)
- govt is holding trillions in corporate stock and bonds to prop up their capital markets.
