As havens go, Japan sure is an odd case. You would think that having the developed world’s largest public debt, an aging and shrinking population, deflation, few natural resources and the ever-present risk of a giant earthquake might give investors pause. Since the global crash of 2008, though, they can’t get enough of the place. As a recession takes hold in Europe and the U.S. limps along, demand for yen assets has exploded. This is giving Finance Minister Jun Azumi and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa fits as they confront pressure to halt the yen’s 33 percent surge since the collapse of Lehman Brothers ... (full story)