Are you saying that everything that's ever been written about Japan's "Miracle" economy is a lie? There never was a period of true full employment? Some of your comparisons seem a little weak, though I admit that I don't know the American numbers. Still, we are talking about, in part, the 1960s and you say that most Japanese women didn't work. Wouldn't it also be true that as late as 1970 America had fairly low rates of female participation in the workforce?
It seems to me you are saying that Japan kept visible, reported unemployment down by setting up a culture in which much of the population was not supposed to work, especially married women and men over 55. Except for the sexism aimed at women, are these bad things? Don't people on the left often complain that Americans are overworked? I've read that America recently had the highest labor participation rate ever, ie, the percent of the population that was working was greater than duing WWII.. Is this necessary? We are not at war with anyone. What if 30 million Americans decidd they no longer wanted to work? Would the left be against that? Suppose middle age people began demanding the right to retire at age 55? Would the left stand against them or for them?