Does Mrs Watanabe need a haircut?

Japan’s economy seems to have been teetering on the edge of a total economic collapse for the past two decades as glacial growth, falling prices and an ageing population have helped government debt balloon to seemingly unsustainable levels.

Some pessimists are now asking if matters are about to come to a head if not immediately, then during the next couple of years. So we asked our readers last week if Japan was on its way to a Greek-style debt crisis. We are pleased to report that most were confident that it was not, or at least probably not.

Even so, it is hard to ignore the sense...