Japan Must Swim or Sink
A Unique Insider's View of the Social, Cultural &
Economic Challenges Facing Japan in the 21st Century

By Vittorio Volpi
May 2001
Pelanduk Publications
ISBN: 967-978-765-6
176 pages, 5 5/8" x 8 1/2"
$25.00 Paper Original

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Japan's Heisel Crisis… why is the world's second largest economic power still unable to recover from its post-bubble economic recession? In Japan, the 1990s were called the "Lost Decade" as land and stock prices kept falling and a general sense of gloom spread among the country's citizens. According to the author, an influential banker and long-time resident of Japan, what the country crucially needs now is a new pioneering spirit. The Japanese of the present Heisel Era may have much to learn from the Meiji pioneers who in the second half of the 19th century brought the country to a strong positron among major world powers. In this book, the reader will find a unique insider's view of the social, cultural and economic challenges facing Japan in the 21st century. The author, Vittorio Volpi, is Managing Director and Chairman of the UBS Group in Japan. Born in 1939 in Milan, Italy, Volpi took his first position in the banking world at age 14. He obtained a PhD in Economics from Sacred Heart University and worked for Citibank in Milan for a number of years before being dispatched to Japan to open the Tokyo branch of a major Italian industrial bank in 1972. He has worked and lived in Japan since then and knows the country's business world like few other foreigners.

Asian Studies

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