When Toyota\u2019s president, Akio Toyoda, apologized for the recalls that have marred Toyota\u2019s reputation, he talked not just about his company\u2019s fate, but also his nation\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to return Toyota to profit and contribute to the revitalization of Japan,\u201d\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Once a leading symbol of Japan\u2019s rise to global economic might, Toyota has become one of the most visible signs of its decline. And even before the recalls, Japan\u2019s rivals from South Korea and China had started overtaking Japan in key industries from semiconductors to flat-panel televisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this rate, Japan will sink into the sea,\u201d\u009d said Masatomo Tanaka, a professor at the Institute of Technologists, a university that specializes in training engineers. \u201cIf Toyota is not healthy, then Japan is not healthy.<\/p>\n