President Barack Obama waves to the crowd after being introduced at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 14, 2009. The President said: "We look to rising powers with the view that in the 21st century, the national security and economic growth of one country need not come at the expense of another.  I know there are many who question how the United States perceives China's emergence.  But as I have said, in an interconnected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another.  Cultivating spheres of cooperation -- not competing spheres of influence -- will lead to progress in the Asia Pacific."

Japan's economy grew strongly in the third quarter as a government stimulus program helped boost consumer spending.

GDP (gross domestic product) grew 1.2 per cent in the quarter, equivalent to a an annualised rise of 4.8 percent, compared with a consensus expectation of 2.9 per cent. Growth in the second quarter was 2.7 per cent, which had been preceded by a stunning 12.2 per cent contraction in the first quarter of 2009.

About one-third of the quarterly growth was due to growth in private consumption, one-third related to increased inventories, and one-third came from net trade - -  the margin of exports over imports.

Business investment was positive for the first time in six quarters but housing investment continued to fall.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the nation’s economy remains “worrisome” and another supplementary budget is “probably” warranted.

The government aims to pay for additional spending with funds saved by freezing the previous administration’s projects, easing the impact on fiscal debt, Hatoyama told reporters on Sunday in Singapore, where he was attending a summit meeting of Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders.

“If we channel the saved funds to next year’s spending, that would help a lot to draft the next fiscal year’s budget,” Hatoyama said. “However, given that the economy is worrisome and employment is severe, we will probably have to draft an extra budget.”

About 35 per cent of Japan's workforce are on temporary contracts, earning less than the Irish minimum hourly wage of €8.65 ($12.90).

In contrast with times past, developed countries are now the ones weighed down by public debt, led by Japan.

Japan has also had to contend with a rising yen.

According to the IMF, emerging countries in the G-20 (Group of Twenty), have an average ratio of government debt to GDP of about 40 per cent. For example, Russia, which defaulted in 1998, has debt of less than 10 per cent of GDP.

Advanced countries have debts with an average of  110 per cent of GDP; this figure excludes pension and healthcare obligations.

Japan’s national debt is heading for 200 per cent of GDP.

About 95 per cent of the stock of Japanese government bonds is held by domestic investors and Japan has maintained an official interest rate of close to zero for years.

Nevertheless, debt-servicing costs takes close to 25 per cent of the annual budget, according to Barclay’s Capital.

A rise in rates in coming years will pose a serious challenge for policymakers.

President Barack Obama greets children of US embassy workers in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 14, 2009.

Asia is still positioned for a domestic recovery, says Simon Godfrey, investment specialist at Fortis Investments. He tells CNBC's Chloe Cho what he is buying to capitalise on this: