(Bloomberg) -- The last time the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed around 23,000 yen was weeks after the release of Michael Crichton's "Rising Sun," the novel about a Japanese conspiracy to take over America.
In retrospect, the book was emblematic of the confidence in Japan's prospects at the time. Those of us working in Tokyo in the early 1990s have plenty of examples of mass enthusiasm for the country's future -- enthusiasm that had disappeared by 1997, when Japan was clearly engulfed in an economic malaise that would eventually stretch into its famous lost decades.
Back in 1992, English teachers could command a whopping 20,000 yen ($175 at today's exchange rate) per session with Tokyo lawyers, paving the way for Japan's integration into the world economy. Speaking from personal experience, receiving that amount of money to chat over beer and sushi was an extravaganza that showed how self-assured Japan Inc. was in its future and its need to learn the language of global business.
Then-President George H.W. Bush was also confident. He had just brought the big three U.S. automakers' executives with him in tow on a trip to Japan, seeking trade deals to help pull the U.S. out of its sluggish post-recession recovery.
He wasn't the only celebrity making a bee-line to Japan's still-vibrant capital. Scores of people lined up waiting to get into Tokyo's flashy disco Juliana's were held up as then-rising actor Charlie Sheen swept into the VIP seating area with his entourage. The disco is gone and Sheen has faded from the limelight, but the Japanese economy -- and the Nikkei -- may have finally recovered.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Anstey in Tokyo at canstey@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tracy Alloway at talloway@bloomberg.net, Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Brian Fowler
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