taro kono in tokyo, welcome to hardtalk. hello. how are you? m very well, minister kono, and thank you forjoining us. what has gone wrong? a simple question. what has gone wrong injapan? you're a global powerhouse economy, which seems to have been stalled for decades. why do you think that is? well, there was a bubble economy back in 1980s, and the japanese economy went through some adjustment, and now we are back on track. the economy is getting warmer and warmer. back on track. you thinkjapan�*s back on track, when you look at your massive debt problem, you look at your very weak currency on global markets right now, you look at a cost of living crisis, which is clearly affecting japanese people, who seem to be very disaffected, weary with the political and economic status quo. well, the post—covid inflation injapan is much, much lower than uk or the united states. so, don't worry about it. and economy is clearly back on track. the japanese economy is growing back again. let me ask you about the politics of japan. for pretty much 70 years, the

taro kono in tokyo, welcome to hardtalk.

my guest is taro kono, japan's minister for digital transformation.