A Swiss's Thought After 57 Years in Japan

choi

Akiko Uehara, Kurt Sieber: 57 years in Japan – Thoughts of a Retiree. Swissinfo.ch, Jan 7, 2018.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/-we ... -a-retiree/43796390

Quote:

"Swiss businessman Kurt E [the initial for Ernst] Sieber went to live in Japan in 1960. At first he managed a Swiss trading company, then an Austrian one. In 2011 he retired – but did not return to Switzerland.

"Lack of will for reform in Japanese economy [which is the section heading]  'In the Japanese economy for years now there have been no reforms. Japan is perceived as a major economic power after the United States and China but in fact the country is deep in debt. The debt burden in comparison with the annual GDP is about double what it is in Greece. The question is being anxiously mooted whether Japan will not collapse financially sometime. This is not an idle fear either.'

"Nationality? Swiss [which is heading]

Note:
(a)
(i)
(A) Kurt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt
("originated as short forms of Germanic 'Konrad' or 'Conrad' ")
(B) Konrad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad
(ii) The surname Sieber meant " sieve maker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German sib sieve."

(b) Swissinfo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissinfo
(1999- ; a website produced by Swiss Broadcasting Corporation [1981- ; headquartered in Bern; a non-profit organisation not funded by government)
(c) "The debt burden in comparison with the annual GDP is about double what it is in Greece"

This interview was conducted in mid 2017 (see next). Whether the statistics is from 2016 or 2017 (as late as December of 2017), all sources show Greece was 180% and Japan 240% (relatively stable for the two nations in those two years). In fact, the ration for Japan is projected to crest in 2017 and then decrease little by little (presumably because Japan's economy is on the mend, in small increments). See
Projection of General Government Gross Debt for Japan (GGGDTPJPA188N). St Louis Fed, updated Dec 13, 2017.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GGGDTPJPA188N
(d) This interview was originally published in Japanese as
上原 亜紀子, 在日暦５７年のスイス人 ―退職後のつぶやき―. Swissinfo,ch, July 31, 2017
https://www.swissinfo.ch/jpn/シリーズ-私たちは在外スイス人-_在日暦５７年のスイス人-退職後のつぶやき/43376706
(about クルト・イー・シーベル, which is katakana for Kurt E Sieber)

Japanese-English dictionary:
* tsubuyaki つぶやき 《呟き》 (n): "murmur; mutter"