The past decade has exposed cracks in the various systems that have run this country for the 55 years since its defeat in World War II. These cracks appear to be expanding, ranging from rampant corruption and declining ethics among lawmakers, bureaucrats and businessmen to the collapse of family ties and order in school classrooms.
These problems are not, of course, unique to Japan. The United States saw an incumbent president snared in a sex scandal, while the European Union witnessed the resignation of its executive team earlier this year under allegations of fraud, nepotism and mismanagement.
But the various systems of international finance and trade will also have to be reviewed. The functions of three pillars of postwar global order -- United Nations, the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, and the World Trade Organization -- are on the decline.