A tale of two economic giants – What does it mean now that China has overtaken Japan?

Japan’s view: Do the Japanese cafe?

The Wall Street Journal asked locals in Tokyo about the recent news regarding China’s economy and found most people merely shrugged.

“It can’t be helped,” said Koichi Matsubara, 36, who works in real estate. “Business has been drifting overseas, our population is shrinking. We’re a small island, and given the size of our country, we were perhaps at the top longer than expected. I think we will continue to lose ground.”

Many people also believe that the fall is attributed to Japan’s lack of fighting power compared to the days following World War II. “Japan lost its momentum,” said Kazuyoshi Ono, a 58-year-old former banker. “The thinking in the past was, ‘If I work hard, the harder I work the more likely I’ll succeed,’ but we’ve lost that hungry spirit.”

Ono said he believes that the work-hard philosophy still exists but is missing a competitive drive. He believes the cause is in the faltering education system and the sway of mass media.

Naoko Yokokawa, a 28-year-old finance worker, said she thinks Japan’s decade-long economic doldrums has become all too familiar among her peers.

“We’ve gotten used to it after 20 years of being stuck in an economic slump,” she said.
Yokokawa said the lack of motivation at home becomes even more pronounced when she travels to nearby emerging powers like South Korea and Vietnam.
“When you walk around, you can sense that South Korea is so full of spirit. It’s completely different from the sense of calm in Japan,” she said. “They have power.”

(By Huang Daohen)