Update: Association for the Study of Failure

There's a short article in the April 7 Times on the Association for the Study of Failure, previously introduced briefly in these pages:

"Japan tries to figure out where it went wrong

"FACING chronic deflation, a twelfth year of stagnation, surging corporate bankruptcies and nearly half a trillion dollars of bad debts, the Japanese Government has set up a think-tank to study the magnitude of the economic failure." [Remainder here; may require subscription]

The article goes on to note that the Ministry of Education has funded the institute to the tune of JPY1 billion, which would explain the 52nd-floor offices in Shinjuku's Opera City complex and the (apparently) extremely beautiful receptionists.