Japan’s debt is too big to manage.

Kan’s Megaproblem
Japan’s debt is too big to manage.

Japan’s former finance minister, Naoto Kan, has become the nation’s fifth prime minister in just four years—and the predictable cycle of high expectations followed by mild cynicism has begun anew. How long he will remain in office is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: trying to solve government finances could be for this premier the same kind of career killer that the Futenma base-relocation issue was for the last one.

The inescapable math of an aging society that has been promised huge retirement and welfare benefits, which are not fully covered by taxes, could make Kan’s tenure a true test of government and party leadership. Japan’s gross debt-to-GDP ratio is second only to Zimbabwe, at almost 200 percent.

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