The Lost Thirty Years of Sakura Island

Using the creative approach of unpacking complex economic principles through the everyday stories of ordinary people, the book turns Japan into "Sakura Island," an island that relies on maritime trade and built its foundations on manufacturing, once becoming the "Pearl of the East Asian Seas" thanks to its export advantage. The lives of three residents from different social classes weave together a history of Japan's three decades of economic decline, from the bursting of the bubble in the 1990s to the present day. The book contains no obscure economic terminology or models. Instead, it uses familiar scenes from daily life, such as running a factory, household spending, and managing personal finances, to transform core economic problems including asset bubbles, industrial hollowing-out, the deflation trap, and population aging into relatable stories: the rise and fall of the Takahashi family's factory, the Sato family's mortgage burden, and the bankruptcy cases handled by Nishimura. As readers empathize with the characters' fates, they can also understand the underlying logic behind Sakura Island's economy shifting from "a nationwide frenzy" to "long-term stagnation." The book aspires to become a classic, accessible work of economics that explains economic decline.