He has survived as Governor of Tokyo despite branding all postmenopausal women criminals, saying that the French cannot count and declaring war on crows.

Now, though, Shintaro Ishihara may have caused a furore that even he cannot charm his way out of. Y100 billion (£500 million) is missing from the city coffers and the failed bank that he founded is to blame.

To complete his humiliation the notoriously outspoken nationalist may be forced to seek a rescuer in China – a people he has insulted.

In the past Mr Ishihara’s right-wing rants and other eccentricities have done little to dent his popularity. When there has been outrage he has matched it with a deft populist touch and well-timed election promises: the creation of ShinGinko Tokyo bank was one of them. The scene is very different now and Mr Ishihara faces growing calls for his resignation as voters assess the depth of the financial black hole for which they they must pay.

Tolerance for financial waste is vanishing because the Japanese feel less well-off than ever before: the pension records of millions have been lost, the economy looks set for recession and the tax burden of supporting the world’s most quickly ageing society has begun to hit home.

To make the Y100 billion losses of ShinGinko Tokyo worse, banking analysts are clear that the venture was doomed from the start. The bank, established just under four years ago as perhaps Mr Ishihara’s most ambitious political stunt, was set up in a flurry of popular distrust with the mainstream banking system and planned to lend money to small businesses unable to borrow elsewhere.

The move came at a time when Japan’s real commercial banks were tightening lending to shore up their own battered balance sheets but it turned out that there were good reasons why ShinGinko’s target customers were unable to borrow money anywhere: they were terrible credit risks.

Management of ShinGinko was chaotic and credit-rating systems were absurdly lax. Millions of yen were lent to a company that went bust the following day. Before long ShinGinko was concealing a mountain of bad debts but, with the blessing of the governor, continued its reckless lending spree until its entire store of capital was empty. Now, with the collapse of ShinGinko bank in the open at last, Mr Ishihara has three humiliating options. He can allow the bank to sink, sweet-talk another £200 million from the Tokyo taxpayer or, worst of all for the famous ultra-nationalist, he can beg for money from abroad.

The final option could turn out to be the worst. Sources at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government say that for the past few months Mr Ishihara has been attempting to find foreign capital partners to rescue the bank from oblivion. Not a single one has reportedly expressed interest, leaving Mr Ishihara no option but to approach investors in China to salvage his bank.

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