Despite the fact that Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said last Friday that February's fall in the so called "core-core" consumer price index doesn't mean Japan is back in deflation, few are ready to accept his judgement...

Japan is yet to see a lot of unimaginable consequences of recession this year.

Things in Japan are looking grim. They keep getting grimmer, and it doesn't seem they will be getting less grim anytime soon. To give you some idea of what this means, only this week we learnt that Japan’s steel production fell 28 percent in December. This was the steepest decline in no less than six decades. Meanwhile Hiroshi Yoshikawa, Tokyo University professor and head of the Japanese government business cycle measurement committee said that Japan’s present recession may become the longest in the postwar era.

So why is the yen remaining so high?

Why Japan needs to tone down its conservatism for its survival.