Willie ("The Actor") Sutton used to say that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." The same reasoning though not the same modus operandiis prodding foreign businessmen and government representatives toward Tokyo in quest of loans and investment money. They get a warm welcome from Japanese bankers, businessmen and government officials, who face the unusual problem of reducing an embarrassingly enormous pile of cash.
In less than a year, Japan's foreign reserves more than doubled, to almost $17 billion. The money has been attracted by the nation's solid success at selling goods abroad, and even more by its having...
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