It is the trade and investment locomotive for the rest of the region. Despite the bursting of its economic bubble in 1990, it maintains the highest living standards not just in Asia but the world. It has not been able to match the dynamism of the US in riding the information revolution and its recovery is flagging. But if recent trends are anything to go by, Japan is fighting back successfully on another Asian front against US-dominated multiculturalism. The young generation in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are going crazy for Japanese music and film and pop culture products.
Some western industrialists have no doubt however about the future.
Perhaps it is only fair to allow the last word to Mr Mahathir, whose grandiose vision for his country in the 21st century can be seen in a dazzling green-domed palace for future prime ministers, built beside an artificial lake outside Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Prime Minister has been much criticised for the boorish treatment of his imprisoned pro-reform deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, and is seen in the West as a representative of the worst type of Asian values, such as cronyism and manipulation of the media. But in a millennium book called A New Deal for Asia, Mr Mahathir assures us that the 21st century cannot be an Asian century, but should be a co-operative endeavor of East and West to mutual benefit. He also wants to see an end to global casino capitalism as the main cause of instability in Asia. Often Mr Mahathir is right for the wrong reasons.