Don't be distracted by broken window analysis of impact on Japan. Wealth is destroyed when assests are destroyed. Assets being a possessive right to a future income stream. We are seeing tremendous damage and destruction of tangible assets in Japan. You have to parse out what is insured and what is not. Clearly, assets represented by income from insurance companies are now worth less. Certainly government assets are not insured...roads, bridges, ports, airports. Farmland and farming operations appear to have been damaged, factories, utilities, transportation, personal vehicles, houses, buildings, shops, inventories all appear to have suffered damange and destruction. New Orleans is much poorer today than it was before the Hurricane. Any one know what happened to New Orleans and Lousiana value of municpal debts, state debts before and after the Hurricane?
Long term problem is that Japan government debt is excessive. Debt is supported by assets. To the extent that assets are destroyed the credit value of Japan has changed, for the worse.