Much of the global media's attention this week was turned toward the possibility of Greece's default. Its direct effect on Japan is difficult to foresee. On the one hand, the approximately ¥1 trillion in national bonds Japan holds from the fiscally ailing countries that are referred to collectively as PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) is small potatoes compared with the stake by other countries.
In a weekly column titled "Doctor Z Knows," Shukan Gendai (Nov. 5) ponders a worst-case scenario of a monetary collapse by one or more EU members, which might impact Japan in a manner not unlike the subprime crisis of 2007 and the "Lehman Shock" of the following year. This could cause the Nikkei average to plummet to ¥5,000 levels, and further boost the value of the Japanese yen, which last week hit a postwar high of ¥75 to the dollar.
But of more pressing concern to the man on the street here is not what will happen to Greece, but rather how many more years he will have to remain in the labor force to receive even the most parsimonious of pensions.