I'd really like to see a breakdown of the structure of Japanese government debt. Since it is almost entirely owed to the Japanese people, what form is that in? Bonds? Does the figure include the balance of people's normal postal-savings accounts? Looking up the figures, the total government debt is roughly equal to the total national savings, so am I right in reading that the government has simply burned the entire nation's savings on building roads and bridges? Banzai! At least they got a spiffy looking country out of the deal. Zero the books and kick out the bureaucrats, and pray that Nintendo keeps selling Wiis.