The late, great Tom Petty wrote: “I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings, Coming down is the hardest thing, Well the good ol’ days may not return… What goes up must come down.”

Japanese manufacturers remain gloomy over high oil prices, the strong yen and weaker growth in Asia, according to a quarterly central bank survey which defied expectations that business confidence was improving in the world’s third-largest economy.

Business confidence at major Japanese manufacturers tumbled to its lowest level in more than a year as the impact of the earthquake and tsunami became clearer, the central bank said today, but it expects improvement later this year.