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: In recent months Toyota has replaced its bosses, halted pet projects and temporarily cut production in Japan almost in half. Toshiba took control of affiliates and said it would shut down unprofitable businesses. Sony plans to halve the number of its suppliers to save $5.2 billion this year alone. All have cut back their part-time and temporary workers, who had only ever been promised a pay-cheque, not a job for life. The actions of these prominent Japanese companies have encouraged others to follow suit.

During the “lost decade” of 1991-2002 Japanese firms dithered rather than adopting the harsh measures that might have prevented a drawn-out stagnation. But this time around the response has been much faster and deeper. After all, if any country ought to know how to respond to a low- or no-growth environment it is Japan: it has had plenty of practice.

The press has done its part, continually reminding the public of the “once in a century” nature of the crisis and thus providing support for the lay-offs. And banks have played a more constructive role than they did in the 1990s, by refusing to extend credit to some needy firms that cannot meet their obligations—to the dismay of politicians and bureaucrats.

It helps that unlike during the bursting of the country’s bubble economy in 1991, the crisis originated outside Japan and all unpleasant measures could be blamed on the American bankers whom many Japanese held responsible for it. And the sudden collapse of export sales, which happened in tandem with a spike in commodity prices and an appreciation of the yen (which makes Japan’s exports more expensive), meant that corporate Japan had no choice but to act.

All this is quite a turnaround. During the lost decade Japan regarded its problems as a private, domestic matter: it resented outside pressure to sort out errant banks, speculative property developers, overly ambitious conglomerates and so on. Corporate reforms were introduced, albeit slowly and imperfectly. Jobs, sacrosanct in Japan, were eventually shed. The reaction this time is notable because it capitalises on the changes introduced back then and provides an opportunity to push for even more restructuring.