Greece is (not) the word in Japan

Taku Eto can be known forever as the contemporary Marie Antoinette of Japan. At a time when the price of rice is at a record height, the country’s pastor of the country essentially told the population: If the staple is too expensive, let them eat the rice they get for free. “I’ve never bought Rice. I get so much of supporters that I have enough to sell, ‘he told a fundraising event over the weekend, in comments he later said was just meant to laugh. Little was amused in a country where the price of the staple food has doubled over the past year. Eto, surprisingly, lost his work a few days later. “Like the person who appointed him, I apologize,” Premier Shigeru Ishiba told reporters on Tuesday. ‘It is a big problem to make these comments when voters are upset and concerned about the availability of rice and the striking costs. Ishiba is not wrong on Eto – despite his brief attempt to keep the minister in his post. But the prime minister should look in the mirror: While the domestic media was focused on Ricegate, Ishiba himself said something that something was just as bad and possibly much more harmful. “Our country’s fiscal situation is undoubtedly exceptionally poor, worse than Greece,” the prime minister told Parliament. The context was a debate on reducing the country’s turnover tax, with Ishiba pushing back against the call to reduce it. But his remarks came at the worst possible time. With the markets already jumped over rising effects returns amid the gradual withdrawal of effects of the bank of Japan, as it tries to undo decades of financial relief, Ishiba has not only contributed to causing a further leap in the cost of loans. He traced back the issue of Japan’s fiscal situation, which has largely fallen from the top pages over the past few years, back in the spotlight. Ishiba did not understand his audience. The remarks were probably intended to play well for a domestic public assessment for tax cuts amid the first inflation in a generation, but would not accept any decline in government services. But especially in this time and age – and just days after Moody’s ratings downgraded the US sovereign rating – it is dangerous to cast quotes that will revive the pressure on Japanese debt, especially after years of relative spending. Ishiba is ready to exclude the cutting of consumption tax, a populist, unwise proposal, even on a temporary basis, as I recently argued. But it is just as irresponsible to activate a possible tapering outburst simply to win a domestic sparring match. The call of Greece shows how bad Ishiba remains in the past. The remark reflects that of a bad predecessor: In 2010, the then Prime Minister Naoto could elicit the ghost of a Greek debt crisis in comments that shocked the country in its call to higher taxes. And in any case, the fiscal situation in Athens has been greatly improved these days, with Moody’s raising the country to investment grade in March. Even if we assume that Ishiba refers to the euro-zone crisis era, he is still just as wrong as can make the comparison. Yes, Japan has a significant debt burden – at 240% of gross domestic product, the largest in the world, according to the OECD. But the similarities with Athens end there. Greece became the issue that was not only due to its debt pile, but also because it could not control its own currency, and that most of its debt was owned by foreign investors. None of these are problems that affect Japan. The vast majority of its debt is held internally by the Bank of Japan, along with banks, insurers, pension funds and so on. Foreign investors have only 6.4%. But it is also the largest creditor nation in the world and has an embarrassment of wealth in its net government and household assets. For these reasons, the endless golden golden mistakes and Bitcoin bros that saliva over the prospect of an imminent Japanese fiscal collapse will be disappointed. What affects Japanese debt is a gap between supply and demand, with investors thrown by global uncertainty. It seems more likely that the Bank of Japan will be forced to step back, a movement in the wrong direction for Governor Kazuo Ueda. Ishiba’s remarks are taking steps such as those acceptable by stacking pressure on the yields of the effects. In other words, the only crisis is likely to make one of its own. Someone in his position must be aware of it. With apology to Marie Antoinette, it’s not time to lose one’s head. More from Bloomberg opinion: Eto’s is a real quote, even though Marie Antoinette’s famous “Let Them Eat Cake” line is commonly considered apocryphal. This column reflects the author’s personal views and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial or Bloomberg MP and its owners. Gearoid Reidy is a columnist for Bloomberg who covers Japan and Korea’s. He previously led the breaking news team in Northern Asia, and was the head of the Tokyo Deputy Bureau. /Opinion © 2025 Bloomberg MP This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without editing to text.