"Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice.

Women for a long time were kept out of the workplace because they were thought to be too weak or emotional for many jobs.

His health, however, is in doubt: He is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, and recent photos show a frail man.

Asia's two big beasts are shivering. India's economy is weaker, but China's leaders have more to fear.

Yet despite Japan's severe problems, its political system has given its people a string of short-lived, weak leaders.