“Japan’s debt was pretty low...”
You must be dreaming. Japan has had huge public debt for decades, way over their gdp.
From Wikipedia... “the Japanese public debt is estimated to be approximately US$12.20 trillion US Dollars (1.4 quadrillion yen ), or 266% of GDP, and is the highest of any developed nation. 45% of this debt is held by the Bank of Japan. “
I thought it was lower than that.
Closer to 96% of their debt is held by their national bank.