This would have to be complemented by a revolutionary welfare state that would guarantee basic economic security to the Japanese people. Japan's problem is very simply a lack of spending, relative to a supply glut. That's about as responsible as a person quitting his job after incurring a large personal debt. Japan has less of both problems than we do. Yet still Japan is a rich nation in trouble in part because of these two problems.
Crony capitalism is about incurring public risk for private gain.
A policy of social investment without matching social dividends strikes me as a rather obvious form of crony capitalism. And it was Labour who legislated to make inflation illegal in 1989. Labour is well to the right of Krugman. Only a few years ago many people thought that Japan ad evolved a business and economic system that was superior to that of Western nations. Then Japan went into its seemingly endless slump, and many peopled decided that Western-style capitalism was superior after all.