Japan is almost certainly in the secondary depression phase.
The U.S. is almost certainly not. I believe the distinguishing factor is debt. The U.S. may be very close to the beginning of the liquidation of debt phase, but until it is there, we are almost forced to look upon this as an extremely long plateau period. Although Kondratieff's work was based on wholosale prices, not stock prices, I repeat what I wrote earlier in this group, namely it seems almost impossible to classify this as a secondary depression while the stock market is making new all-time highs. I must say I agree wholeheartedly in your assessment that psychological analogues also apply and your analogies were intriguing, but I believe the finest tool of assessment is the stock market.