This was Takahashi Korekiyo, who during the Great Depression did a great job. The country has reached a critical juncture, and I doubt that the new cabinet is fully aware either of the extent of the crisis or of the level of public alarm. The main concern of the LDP's Diet members for the moment is to avoid a general election for the House of Representatives, which would clearly be disastrous for the party at this point. The candidate they selected as their leader was the one they judged least likely to heed popular calls for such an election, and the administration he has formed is basically a reflection of their will. It is not just Japan but all of Asia that is waiting to see what the Obuchi administration can do.
Japan is, after all, the world's largest creditor and second largest economy.
When the Japanese economy slumps, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thai exports to it drop off. Asian prosperity is not to be expected without a recovery in Japan. And if the yen continues to fall, China may opt to devaluate its yuan. The first item on the agenda of the Obuchi administration must be, of course, reviving the economy. Equally obvious is that step one in this process must be clearing up the bad debts.