Here is a manga about Japan’s future written by me and illustrated by the eminent manga artist Toshio Ban, a disciple and former assistant of “the god of manga” Osamu Tezuka. The piece was originally intended for McKinsey’s Reimagining Japan book, but relegated to the webiste at the last minute in the wake of the 3/11 disasters.
Sovereign downgrade? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Such is likely to be the response of any investor in Japan to the news that Standard and Poors has removed its triple A rating on US
Disaster reveals national character in the starkest possible way. Japan’s response to the unprecedented triple blow of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown has demonstrated both its strengths and weaknesses – to the world and perhaps to the Japanese themselves.
The earthquake which struck Japan on Friday with such devastating human cost was powerful enough to shift the earth’s on its axis and move the Japanese land mass six feet. It is human nature to assume that an event of such destructive force must have powerful lasting effects on stock markets too, but that is not necessarily the case.
“What most likely happened was pedal misapplication.” So concluded an official of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US body which has just published its report on the spate of accidents involving Toyota cars.
S&P’s downgrade of Japan’s credit-rating raises a disturbing prospect. Is this stage two of the global credit crisis, featuring chain of sovereign defaults amongst the largest economies?
Who has survived the global credit crisis in the best shape? As Chou En Lai said about the impact of the French Revolution, it’s still too early to judge. The snap verdict that China is the big winner and the US and rest of the old G7 are big losers is already looking questionable.
Serious sport, according to George Orwell, is war minus the shooting. In the words of Bill Shankly, legendary manager of Liverpool F.C., football is not a matter of life and death; it’s much more important than that.
The Japanese are doing it again. The Koreans prefer to do it when nobody’s watching. The Chinese are at it brazenly and, like everything else they do, on an enormous scale. The Swiss tried it, without much success.
The Democratic Party of Japan is about to make a momentous choice. Next week’s contest for the party leadership also decides who holds the office of prime minister. The contrast between the two candidates could not be starker.