What are the reasons for the drop in Japanese customer spending patterns?

"we may see a precipitous drop in consumer spending as a substantial fraction of the population loses confidence in its future income continuity"

Source: The Lights in the Tunnel:
Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future
By Martin Ford
Paperback: 262 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (September 22, 2009)
Language: EnglishI
SBN-13: 978-1448659814
Page 211