It looks like a typical Tokyo watering hole. Large paper lanterns hang from the ceiling-, kimono-clad women glide between the tables delivering beer and witticisms, and a sound system belts out enka songs - Japan's answer to country and western. But after the last salaryman leaves each night, cleaners strip the place of its gaudy... Read More

When an earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, it took a week for the full impact of the tragedy to percolate through to the west. If disaster struck today, the west's reflexes would be measured in seconds rather than days, sending shock waves through the entire world financial system. As the Japanese insurance industry dumped scores... Read More

What do Japanese corporate finance officers think of the foreign bankers competing for their business? If praise could pay the rent, the foreigners would have no need to worry. At Toshiba, where they make a point of seeing almost every banker who telephones, the general manager in the international finance division, Nobuyuki Horiuchi, said: "My... Read More

"Our problem is how to turn away financing officers from our good friends the foreign bankers without hurting their feelings," said In-Young Chung, the Minister of Finance for the Republic of Korea. His point was that the country's foreign borrowing requirements this year will fall well below earlier forecasts. A year ago, the Bank of... Read More

At the new Tokyo Stock Exchange building, an English-language sign in the visitors' gallery reads: "Please be seated when eating." Asked the significance of it, the tour guide had a ready answer. In the seated position, tourists are out of the floor traders' line of sight. "The traders complained that being watched by people eating... Read More

What will amount to a minor piece of history will be acted out early this month in a Tokyo conference room when 60 Japanese industrial executives sit down for an investment seminar. Top of the agenda: investment performance measurement. Nothing unusual about that--until you look at the dichotomy between the agenda and the executives' credentials.... Read More

Hostile takeovers are almost unknown in Japan. Even friendly ones are rare. Many of those takeovers which have been done are the work of Takami Takahashi. His Minebea ball bearing company has long been regarded in Tokyo as a maverick. It has shunned affiliations with the powerful zaibatsus. Takahashi has used his freedom from ties... Read More