TIME declares time running out for Japan

The country is probably at yet another crossroads.

Sometimes Japan seems to be on the wrong continent. Everywhere else in Asia, from Shanghai to Mumbai to Jakarta, there is an aura of perpetual motion, a sense that tomorrow will be better than today. The region is on a frenetic 365-day-a-year hurtle into a brighter future. Japan once shared Asia's dynamism and mission. But not anymore. Today, Japan is an island of inertia...TIME

Time, the magazine which seems to me to always blow things way out of proportion, has published a new story on Japan. A read through it reveals little that anyone paying attention doesn't already know (with only a few quibble worthy points on first read), and tends to make one want to abandon ship. Being an optimist here is not something one can achieve while sober.