Japan after the Bubble

Contributor(s): David Pilling | In the 1980s, Japan was supposedly about to take over the world. Since the burst of the bubble in 1990, it has all but slipped from the radar as attention has switched to China. However, its problems, though real, are exaggerated and misunderstood, and Japan remains a key player in global economy and in global geopolitics. David Pilling is the Asia editor of the Financial Times. From 2002-2008, he was the FT's Tokyo bureau chief. His book, Bending Adversity, Japan and the Art of Survival is published by Penguin in January 2014.