Living in a bubble

Here is an interesting article about 'the good old days' of Japan's bubble economy - makes a little real estate speculation seem tame by comparison.

Japan's young workers dream about living in a bubble

"Japan's young, used to hard times following a decade-and-a-half in the economic doldrums, have developed a yearning for the heady times of the "bubble" era of the late '80s and early '90s when it seemed the Japanese juggernaut was poised to take over the world"

"Every one of my older co-workers says that it was a time when you didn't have to work hard, went out drinking every night and still made heaps of money"

"There wasn't a company around that didn't have a shortage of workers. Companies had to fight tooth and nail to get their hands on even a single new employee. Just going to a company's recruiting explanation meeting would get you treated to a night out at an expensive ryotei restaurant and the company would still pay you 50,000 yen 'transport costs' just for turning up for an interview. It was a dream time to be looking for a job," a man identified only as Mr. N who works at a major contracting company tells R25. "Companies would continue the handouts once they'd promised jobs, too. We got to go on a weeklong trip where we were plied with drinks every night at girlie bars. We drank every night. A friend of mine got a job at a company that took him on a weeklong golf trip to Guam."