There are probably a number of differences if I thought about it for a while, but the first really BIG ones that come to mind is that Japan (up until this year) has had a net trade surplus (as opposed to our deficit) AND their debt (up until now) has been financed internally by its own citizen savings (unlike ours that is half foreign investment).

To me these are the two elephants in the room that people ignore when they say we are traveling down the same path as Japan.

These are also the reasons that to me Japan is reaching a tipping point unlike the people that say Japan will continue on as they have been. Swing from trade surplus to deficit and forced (by demographics) from internal finance of debt to external. A debt to GDP ratio that according to historical accounts should have blown up long ago is about to make additional new history, in my opinion.

John