JAPAN is hosting annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank this week…. The meetings are taking place at a time when the European sovereign debt problems, uncertainty about the US economy and slowing down of the Chinese and other emerging and developing economies are casting clouds over the global economy….

The effects of the European sovereign debt crisis … are continuing. Despite strong support measures for European countries suffering from sovereign debt problems, prospects for the settlement of the European crisis remain unclear.

The IMF and World Bank meetings will offer financial ministers and central bankers from various countries a chance to discuss subsequent steps to resolve the crisis in Europe.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Japan joining the IMF and the World Bank in 1952…. Japan hosted annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank once before in 1964. That year was a remarkable one for Japan … as [it] joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, hosted the Tokyo Olympics and started the … Shinkansen super-express trains.

Assistance from the IMF and the World Bank laid the foundation for Japan’s post-war economic development. The World Bank helped Japan construct thermal power stations … the Tokaido Shinkansen railway line and the Tomei Expressway.…

From the 1990s to the 2000s, Japan experienced a lost decade due to the burst of its economic bubble and … has become the only developed country to suffer from deflation. Japan should take advantage of the IMF and World Bank meetings and help deepen discussions on what went wrong with its economy and … how to prevent the recurrence of the mistake….—(Oct 9)