I don't think living in Japan makes you especially more able to comment on the issue. Most foreigners are concentrated in a few areas, and it tends to be mostly anecdotal. It does help you to avoid having misconceptions for things that cannot be easily measured, though (this was especially striking during the march 2011 tsunami and Fukushima events).
As mentioned by others, trade surplus or worse currency "power" are about as meaningless as you can be. Those are related to typical misconceptions and bias (mercantilism, etc...). About one year ago, there was a much more convincing article about the Japan myth: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/gros18/English. The gdp growth figures show a much better story than they do if you only take into account the workforce (it basically outdid both Europe and the US). Also, there is still a largely unused part of the population for economical growth: women.
As mentioned by others, trade surplus or worse currency "power" are about as meaningless as you can be. Those are related to typical misconceptions and bias (mercantilism, etc...). About one year ago, there was a much more convincing article about the Japan myth: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/gros18/English. The gdp growth figures show a much better story than they do if you only take into account the workforce (it basically outdid both Europe and the US). Also, there is still a largely unused part of the population for economical growth: women.