Lost Decade (Japan)

Lost Decade (Japan)

The Lost Decade or the Lost 10 Years (失われた10年, Ushinawareta Jūnen?) is the time after the Japanese asset price bubble's collapse within the Japanese economy, which occurred gradually rather than catastrophically. The term originally referred to the years 1991 to 2000, but recently the decade from 2001 to 2010 is also sometimes included, so that the whole period of the 1990s to the present is referred to as the Lost Two Decades or the Lost 20 Years (失われた20年, Ushinawareta Nijūnen). However, there is serious dispute on whether or not such “lost decade” or decades actually took place. The key determinant seems to be how the various theorists chose to measure the merits of the Japanese economic system, i.e. by rise in standard of living, stock market valuations, real-estate prices, debt to GNP ratio, corporate investments, infrastructure development, etc. Depending on the criteria utilized, the interpretations of Japan’s “lost decade” can vary greatly. In fact, some interpretations claim Japan actually performed significantly better than the United States and other nations during the so-called “lost decades”.