Tacked up in banks and post offices across Japan, the posters of a fresh-faced beauty could be advertising a new financial thriller: Bond Girl vs. Botswana
How, officials here ask, could a country that receives foreign aid from Japan have a better rating than Japan itself? Japan, with an economy almost 1,000 times the size of Botswana's, has the world's largest foreign reserves, $446 billion; the world's largest domestic savings, $11.4 trillion; and about $1 trillion in overseas investments
Now it gets interesting:
Takeo Hiranuma, minister of economy, trade and industry, joined the fray.
"Half of the people of Botswana are AIDS patients," he said, later apologizing for his remarks. "It is outrageous the rating is lower than such a country."
Japan, critics say, prefers to focus on the messenger, not the message. Frank discussion of Japan's finances might scare buyers from government bonds, no matter how bewitching Ms. Fujiwara's smile
