The reaction of emergency authorities to the great earthquake and tsunami showed Japan at its best. The growing squabble over paying the bill, however, shows its institutions at their worst.
应急部门对于大地震和海啸的反应，展现了日本最好的一面。而围绕如何支付救灾账单日益激烈的争吵，则展示出了日本制度最糟的一面。
The Democratic Party of Japan, which took office less than two years ago vowing to confront “bureaucracy-led protectionism and conformity,” is in danger of flunking its first real test. After a long consultation with Japan Inc on how to settle claims arising from the nuclear crisis, the DPJ has emerged with a fudge. The state plans to issue special bonds to fund a new organisation to pay compensation. Then it will let Tokyo Electric Power repay that organisation over time. To keep lenders lending to Tepco throughout this long process, the government may buy preferred stock, while setting up another body to ensure the utility is run correctly. But rather than making haircuts on existing unsecured loans to Tepco an explicit condition of this support, the government is relying on vague moral suasion, urging “co-operation from every stakeholder”.
不到两年前，日本民主党(DPJ)在上台之际，曾誓言要解决“官僚主义导致的保护主义与墨守成规”。如今，在自身面临的第一场真正的考验中，它却可能考不及格。在与日本企业界就如何处理核危机导致的赔偿要求进行了冗长的磋商后，民主党给人们留下了敷衍塞责的印象。民主党政府计划发行特殊债券，以筹建一个新机构，负责支付赔偿。然后，它将让东京电力公司(Tokyo Electric Power)慢慢偿还这家新机构。为了让银行在这个旷日持久的过程中继续向东电提供贷款，政府可能会购买优先股，并建立另一个机构，确保东电的正确运行。但政府并未将东电现有的无担保贷款折价作为上述支持的明确条件，而是依赖含混的道德劝说，敦促“所有利益攸关者携手合作”。