Japanese Deflation was not bad

 From the article:

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w12142/w12142.pdf
1. Introduction
Japan’s economy has been stagnant more or less continuously for more than a
decade (Japan’s so-called “Lost Decade”), and Japan’s growth rate during this period has
been the lowest among the major industrialized countries of the world. During the
1995-2002 period, for example, the annualized growth rate of Japan’s real gross domestic
product (GDP) averaged only 1.2%, which is lower than all of the other G7
countries—Canada (3.4%), the United States (3.2%), the United Kingdom (2.7%), France
(2.3%), Italy (1.8%), and Germany (1.4%)--as well as the Euro area average (2.2%) and
less than half of all of the other larger OECD countries—Korea (5.3%), Australia (3.8%),
Spain (3.3%), the Netherlands (2.9%), and Mexico (2.6%)--as well as the OECD-wide
average (2.7%).

 

The above figures are not adjusted for inflation. If inflation were taken into account, Japanese economy should be the fastest growing amonng all these countries. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades

 "Japanese firms overall became net savers after 1998, as opposed to borrowers. Koo argues that it was massive fiscal stimulus (borrowing and spending by the government) that offset this decline and enabled Japan to maintain its level of GDP"

Properly managed, deflation can be tamed by government spending.

Deflation is even good as argued by this article:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/030915/why-deflation-bad-economy.asp

 "This general decrease in prices is a good thing because it gives consumers greater purchasing power. To some degree, moderate drops in certain products, such as food or energy, even have some positive effect on increasing nominal consumer spending. Beyond these basic staples, a general, persistent fall in all prices not only allows people to consume more but can promote economic growth and stability by enhancing the function of money as a store of value and encouraging real saving."

Please note that the fall in prices are natural fall, not subsidised fall in prices.

Deflation is good for savers and inflation is good for borrowers.

The worst effect is that those who can borrow are those who are rich and powerful while the poor who cannot borrow will suffer the most.