I mean Japan is an "economic basket case" because over the past 10 years its economy has posted a growth rate of about 1% per year, virtually indistinguishable from recession. U.S. growth over the same period has averaged 3.4%. And while there was some optimism early last year that Japan might finally be clawing its way out of its economic bog, the last few quarters have seen the return of negative growth. For all practical purposes, Japan is back in recession, a position to which it has become all too accustomed over the years. That is what I call an "economic basket case."
As for Japan call it demographic retrenchment for the economy, and any problems we point out for Japan are due to its feckless government. If its gooberment was not such a useless bunch of hacks I would invest big time in any Japan fund.