Indeed, the Japanese economy, which has endured two decades of sluggishness, has been falling behind in the global economy even more since the shockwaves caused by Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008. Now it has been struck by a combination of prolonged deflation and the shocks caused by the recent natural disasters.
但这样的消费紧缩出现在日本经济已经很不景气的时期。事实上，日本经济在经受了20年的发展停滞后，由于2008年雷曼兄弟垮台所导致的冲击波更远地落后于全球经济。日本经济现在更是经受着持续通缩和最近这次自然灾害的双重打击。