If you were to stack up 10,000 yen bills equal to the value of the country's estimated public debt in 2005 of 773 trillion yen, the pile would easily reach the stratosphere, according to a government-sponsored exhibit set to open at the Tokyo Tower.
In the background, a voice intones, "In the space of one heartbeat, the world uses 252 tons of fossil fuels -- enough to fill 63 monster trucks." Meanwhile, two clocks tick away, showing the current public debt expanding further and further beyond Japan's gross domestic product.
The exhibit, which will be shown on the fourth floor of Tokyo Tower, isn't meant to be grim -- far from it.