Japan is one of the worst in-debt among major industrial countries. I have always raised questions why my country Japan is so calm despite the huge debt.

One newspaper I read mentioned the question, so I take a note for the record. 

According to the August 12 issue of Shukan-ST, which is newspaper for English learners, our current national debt is about twice the size of GDP of the country. That huge amount is one of the worst in industrial countries. At least, in terms of per capita, we're worse than the U.S. or Greece of which has held a debt problem I watched through media.

We're so in debt. From a newborn baby to a centenarian grandma, our debt is like, "Every person owes about twice the annual income to someone else."  If it were in the case of household, we have to pay back a loan on time, without delay.

However, why we don't raise concerns about the snowballing debt? The article said, "Because the government bond and other loans in local municipalities are purchased by their own people."  With a stable supply, most bonds are consumed domestically. In fact, I have occasionally seen advertisements on TV about the government bond before it's to be issued. In my view, the bond looks similar to a deposit in the bank, because both methods appear the same in respect to an interest we get. And as a matter of fact, it's possible to buy the bond even with a small sum of money. Also, almost all banking institutions sell the financial product. For some people, buying a bond might be equivalent to placing money in the bank. In addition, Japanese people have a lot of savings. Their rate of saving is higher than that of other nations.

Back to the news article, the editor listed other reasons it has not become a major problem. Japan is in the black on international balance of payments. In other words, Japan's export exceeds their import. The country earns money from overseas, thanks to Japanese companies, not to the government. By contrast, the article said, the U.S. has a trade deficit as well as a budget deficit. (I am sorry if I hurt you. I don't intend. ) The phenomenon is called a twin deficit, which I learned as a new term and as an economic problem.

But that doesn't allow us to borrow more money, even though we urgently need it for the disaster relief. Politicians are about to issue more bonds, this time also without a big question. I am concerned whether we can repay the money and how. Will we raise taxes? And, how can we excuse to our children?

I don't want to see the economic problem occurs as a crisis like those happening in the world. We must not leave the problem unsolved.

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The cartoon is a boy for advertisement liken to the letter "Kuni (国, country)." The government bond is written like "国債 (Kokusai)."  I watch him on TV.