The crisis in Japan has already ended, but not the bubble

We went shopping today, for a dishwasher. Actually my wife wanted a built-in dishwasher, but then we would have had to remodel the kitchen completely, so we ended up with a dishwasher which sits on the bench next to the kitchen sink. Amazing that there is a market for it, and almost as amazing that it uses only twice as much water as I do when I wash by hand. No wonder it is eco-marked.
But the real reason for writing this post was twofold: The electric goods store was shock full. And there was a line to the order desk. It was so long that they had to add chairs. Several times. It seemed to be no end of people who wanted to buy expensive capital goods. There was no crisis in that store - and even though it was the newest electronics store in Tokyo, supposedly the one with the lowest prices, things are not that cheap. But even though most companies have yet to decide on whether there will be any bonuses, there was a lot of people who seemed to have a fairly large amount of money to spend.
Then, the counter-indicator. Leaving the store, coming out into the new "Ikebukuro Shopping Park" under the square, it was litterally impossible to believe there had ever been a crisis. But when you got above ground, you could see it.
Here and there, the office buildings have empty windows. This being Japan, many buildings are restaurants on several floors, and restaurants are the first sufferers when people start tightening their belts - litteraly and figuratively. Restaurants which have a special interest group, however, have an easier time - but for an ordinary club, it just takes a few club goers that start missing out for the business case to break.
And nobody wants to go to a restaurant in an empty building. So the owners of the building have to do something, otherwise the other restaurants will start closing, and it will be harder and harder to get tenants. That means the many empty spaces in restaurant buildings are a worrying trend.
That is how the economy of Japan feels like right now: Up one minute, down the next.