Deflationary conditions in the United States have not returned since the Great Depression. Instead, U.S. policymakers have frequently found it necessary to battle inflation over the past sixty years. While not a problem in America, concerns have been recently voiced about the economic effects of deflation in Japan. This EconomicsMinute examines (approximately one century after the publication of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz") the extent to which the deflationary "wizard" can be expected to influence economic prosperity in Japan at the dawn of the twenty-first century.