Still, the attack on the ministry has been debilitating. Japan's weekly magazines are accusing it of everything from dishonesty to ineptitude. They are demoralized. They are a group of very proud people, but they made an awful lot of fallacies. They've blundered so many times.
Critics point out that the ministry has a checkered record on managing free markets.
It is unclear what would replace the ministry and how it might usher in reforms that would diminish its own powers, enabling the economy to function more freely and openly. This transparency really means sometimes a very, very brutal confrontation, which is not really a part of our culture. But it matters in economics, in legal matters as well. Transparency is the must. That should mean that the discretionary power of the bureaucrats should be reduced.