Read any business report on Japan of recent times and there is a familiar theme: economically eclipsed by China, and with a shrinking population, the country's outlook appears as weak as the ratings agencies portray its debt position. Then came the tragic events of March 11, 2011, with the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.
But then who listens to doomsayers, anyway?
Certainly not the authors of the wave of books recently released on the Japan recovery theme, including charity works "2:46: Aftershocks" and "Tsunami: Japan's Post-Fukushima Future" (reviewed below).