japan really didn't lose - they made some miscalculations regarding where they targetted their dollar outflows to - Pebble Beach, Rockefeller Center. But alot of it was put to productive use, for both Japanese companies, and the USA - Toyota employs 200,000 americans in the auto industry for example.
the other thing that hurt japan was the fact that china was able to undercut their costs. who is below china in the race to the bottom? africa? no one is going to be able to undercut china if they retain their current system - $120 a month for a manufacturing worker, a subsistence level wage isn't too bad when the alternative is being at the other end of a chicom gun or chained to a manufacturing machine in a prison.
Miscalculations that cost them, let's see: In September 1989, David Rockefeller and his associates sold 80% of RGI to the Mitsubishi Estate Corporation of Japan for $1.373 billion.
To date, how much have the partnerships lost on the property? In March of 1995, the cumulative shortfall was $623 million.
Yeah, I'd call that a miscalculation and a loss.