It was well after eleven at night in Washington, and the data from Asia was telling the story of widespread financial panic. The Japanese Nikkei stock index had dropped from 18,000 to 6,000 within thirty minutes. Investors sensed that the major Japanese banks would, with few exceptions, be insolvent. Property companies were in free-fall. After two hours of financial carnage, the government stepped in and closed all markets for the weekend.

Despite the massive problem in California, James Wong knew that the dutiful Japanese workers would already have headed off to work as if this were just one more business day. They would have packed themselves into the trains or driven their cars over the jammed highways, as if nothing had changed in the world overnight. In the minds of the average Japanese worker, America was a degenerate, crime-ridden, inferior nation, which clearly deserved whatever it got. Such a tragedy would never happen in their country. They would be shielded.

As he reflected on the developing picture in the East, the buzzer sounded on James Wong’s office phone. “Mr. Secretary, Minister Nomura is calling from Tokyo.”

Wong pushed the blinking button and quickly picked up the receiver. “Kubi, my old friend, how are you?”

Kubayashi Nomura, finance minister of Japan, had become a trusted friend to the treasury secretary over the years. Wong and Nomura had first met through a series of currency crises, trade disputes, and fishing wars. Nomura had traveled extensively in the United States and Europe, and was known as an urbane, cultured individual. From James Wong’s perspective, he was also the most reasonable and reliable member of the Japanese government.

“James,” Kubi Nomura began, “please allow me to express the profound sympathy of both myself and my government for the most terrible tragedy that has struck your great nation. Tell me of your wife’s family. Are they safe?”

“Yes, thank God. They left California before the tragedy, and they are all safe.”

“I’ve watched the TV and read the wires. But please tell me—how bad is it?” Nomura asked.

“Kubi, you just can’t imagine. It is inconceivably bad. In all of human history, there has never been anything like this tragedy. The loss of life on the West Coast has been staggering. The losses in property and market value are well into the trillions. But what about Japan?”

“I know that you have been watching the news,” Kubi said. “Our markets were chaotic, so I was forced to close them for the weekend. All over Asia, the story is the same. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng is down fifty percent and still dropping.”