Japan has money problems. After an unexpected shrink for the second consecutive quarter, Japan, the world's third largest economy, is now in a recession.

According to the BBC, analysts had expected Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 2.1 percent in the period of July to September. It ended up falling 1.6 percent during that period.

A sales tax increase was suggested for 2015, but that may have to be delayed because of the news of the recession.

"The Japanese economy is in recession and has now contracted in three of the last four quarters," Glenn Levine, senior economist at Moody's Analytics, told the BBC.

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call an election as early as Dec. 14. Abe wants to increase his popularity rating, which has slumped since taking office in 2012. Still, he is expected to win the election if it were to be held.

Will the recession affect the U.S. though?

Japan is a major trading partner with the U.S. Cars, electronics and many other goods come and go with Japan daily.

Experts do not expect this recession to last very long in Japan. They also added that the harm to the U.S. will be very little because the U.S. has been relying more on China and other nations during the last 20 years, according to Los Angeles Times.

The recovery efforts from the Great Recession of 2008 are likely to be unaffected by Japan's "mini-recession" (as some are calling it).

"Much like with Europe, if [Japan] really went into a tailspin, that would damage an already fragile global economy," Gary Schlossberg, senior economist at Wells Capital Management, explained.

What kind of products do you own that are Japanese? A car? A video game system? Anything else? Leave us a comment below and let us know.

Related