Japan is very good at monozukuri: the making of things. Traditional crafts became modern manufacturing, fuelled an economic miracle and created famous companies such as Honda, Toyota and Sony. Yet the focus on manufacturing in Japan is now holding back both those companies and the wider economy.

The continued importance of manufacturing – 21 per cent of economic output compared with 13 per cent in the US – makes Japan unusually sensitive to fluctuations in the global economy. That is not just through the exports of cars and electronics, but through volatility in the inventories and capital investment needed to support them.