From Dynamo to Dinosaur

Sometimes Japan seems to be on the wrong continent. Everywhere else in Asia, from Shanghai to Mumbai to Jakarta, there is an aura of perpetual motion, a sense that tomorrow will be better than today. The region is on a frenetic 365-day-a-year hurtle into a brighter future. Japan once shared Asia's dynamism and mission. But not anymore. Today, Japan is an island of inertia in an Asia in constant flux. Japan's political leadership is paralyzed, its corporate elite befuddled, its people agonized about the future. While Asia lurches forward, Japan inches backward. Read more here…

(See pictures of stagnant Japanese economy.)

(Read "Can Japan Put Its Economy Back on Track?")

See pictures of Japan's relationship with the world.

See the new activism of Japan's youth.

(Read "Japan's Government: Five Ways to Fix the Economy.")

(See pictures of Japan in the 1980s and today.)

See pictures of Japanese design's greatest hits.

See the top 10 Japanese robots.

Read "Hatoyama Failed as PM but Set Japan on a New Course."

See "World Economic Forum: Davos 2010."

(See pictures of Tokyo Auto Show.)

(See pictures of young Japanese women in despair.)