Japan’s economic model is broken. Output fell in the first quarter by 4 per cent; a record decline. Its economic structure, however, is only one facet of Japan’s problems. The country is approaching an election when a change in government seems likely. This is a chance for the country to debate what it would like to be. It must be seized.

Japan is the world’s second largest economy. Its export-led strategy, however, has beached the country, leaving it at the mercy of others’ appetites. The largest contributor to the first-quarter dive was the decline in exports which, in turn, drove down private investment.