JIN-484 -- Have the Japanese banks got what it takes to make things work with their new Wall Street partners?

J@pan Inc Newsletter
The 'JIN' J@pan Inc Newsletter
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends
in Japan.
Issue No. 484 Wednesday October 01, 2008, Tokyo

-----------------------------------------------------------
Every PBXL wireless phone comes standard with:
a big color screen,
a 03 Tokyo number,
voicemail,
and more!

Everything you expect from the best office phone system
on the market.

Call today! 03-4550-2557
Get your new phone system in 3 steps: http://www.pbxl.jp/plans

PBXL is Hosted Business Telephony
Monthly seminars at Cisco HQ: http://www.pbxl.jp/seminarstt
More about PBXL: http://www.pbxl.jp/aboutus2
-----------------------------------------------------------

Week 3 of the US economic meltdown and samurai bonds have joined the
list of casualties on the back of the Lehman bankruptcy. The
fastest-growing part of the global corporate debt market has now come
to a halt after Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and National Grid Gas
cancelled sales following the bankruptcy. After subprime, the samurai
bond market was one of the only bonds market to expand but after the
Lehman's collapse, Japanese investors were left holding ¥195 billion
of debt.

The rejection of the $700-billion bailout plan by the American Lower
House lawmakers sent further shockwaves through Wall Street following
the fallout of the Lehman's collapse. The US government drew the line
in the sand but now some are questioning whether the move was wise.
Certainly, the events which followed were unprecedented.

Koyo Ozeki, who heads Asia Pacific credit research at the Tokyo unit
of Pacific Investment Management Co., told Bloomberg:

"The U.S. Treasury may regret the outcome of Lehman once the crisis is
concluded… history will prove it would have been cheaper to save
Lehman than deal with the cost of failure."

Before Lehmans, samurai sales stood at 2.6 trillion yen of samurai
sales, up from 2.2 trillion yen for all of 2007. Some predicted that
the bonds would top 3 trillion this year. But the Lehman's failure,
together with the US bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and insurer
AIG, have made investors, already wary of anything except government
bonds, stay away from even the samurai bonds.

Of course, the rise once again of the Japanese banks, will be
something that could usher in a new era for Japan. Names like
Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui and Nomura have once again been heard
on Wall Street. While Europe stood and watched, Japan moved in on some
of the biggest names in world finance. After a decade and a half of
pain, the Japanese institutions have been able to move at a time when
others couldn't.

How the traditionally top-down management will mesh banks such as
Goldman Sachs, Lehmans and Morgan Stanley remains to be seen. Have the
Japan banks changed enough over the past 15 years to be able to create
useful synergies with the fast-paced Western banks? Some analysts have
been skeptical. Mitsubishi UFJ experienced problems when it tried to
micro manage Bank of California and Union Bank in the late 1990s.

Again, if they can make the relationships work remains to be seen.
Right now those financial institutions need to raise capital.
Management battles are down the track. But in the future, the
performance of those Japanese banks will go a long way to prove
whether the big Japanese players can truly be considered global
players in the increasingly globalized finance industry.

In the meantime, Wall Street waits with baited breath for a savior in
its time of need. Will the US government be able to overcome partisan
politics in time to push through the massive bailout bill it had
planned?

Michael Condon
Editor-in-chief

-----------------------------------------------------------
REGISTER TO MIDEM / MIDEMNET BEFORE OCTOBER 15 TO SAVE 590 €

David Eun, VP Content Partnerships at Google Inc. will deliver
a keynote at the 10th edition of the MidemNet international
forum dedicated to reflection on the music business
in the digital age.

MidemNet: 17 - 18 January 2009

MIDEM, the world's music market, 18 - 21 January 2009,
9,000 key professionals from 90 countries

The earlier you register, the less you pay.
Register now at www.midem.com

-----------------------------------------------------------

-------------Japan Inc is worth every penny!---------------

J@pan Inc is Japan's only English-language business magazine.
Authoritatively chronicling business trends in Japan, each
beautifully designed full-color issue brings you in-depth
analysis of business, people and technology in the world's
second largest economy. Don't miss another issue! JPY 8,000
for 1 year (12 issues) JPY 15,000 for 2 years (24 issues)
Visit http://www.japaninc.com/mgz_subscriptions to subscribe.

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

Creative and Web Services

O Creative provides multilingual creative solutions for
print and web.

Based in Tokyo and London, O Creative specializes in logos
and visual identity, branding, brochures, internal and
external corporate communications solutions, multilingual
web sites, web hosting, IT support, search engine optimization,
online marketing, content management systems and customer
relations management systems.

For more information, please visit our website at
www.o-creative.com,
or contact us directly at info@o-creative.com

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------
Award-winning wines from the Pacific Northwest!

Northwest Cellars creates the ultimate statement by combining
uniquely blended wines and imagination into custom labeled
wines, perfect for creating your own brand, or for special
events, unique gifts, fundraisers, and more.

Try an award-winning wine like the Northwest Cellars 2005
Merlot, or the 2005 Intrigue which just received 90 points
from Wine and Spirits magazine.

Ordering is easy, and Northwest Cellars can ship to
Japan or anywhere.

More info: http://www.paccess.com/cases/wines

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------
Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo-Seminar
- Tuesday, October 7th

Speaker: Einosuke Sumitani, CEO of Kids City Japan K.K.

Mr. Sumitani is the driving force behind the wildly
popular indoor amusement park, KidZania Tokyo.

He initially worked with Fujita Kanko K.K. and went on to
become a founding director at WDI Inc., which introduced
several U.S. restaurant chains to Japan, including Kentucky
Fried Chicken, Hard Rock Cafe and Spago.
It now operates more than 10 restaurant chains in the U.S.
and Japan.

Please sign up early while seats are available.

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 7th 7:00 pm
Location: Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
Language: English
Website: http://www.ea-tokyo.com

-----------------------------------------------------------

----------------- Web Hosting in Japan --------------------

With prices comparable to those available in the US, and a
full range of hosting services, there is no need to put up with
slow-downloading websites hosted overseas anymore.

With nearly 10 years experience in the Japanese market,
Tsukaeru.net provides great value for money to both the
Japanese and English speaking clients.
We provide low cost shared hosting accounts from just 210
yen per month,to fully managed complex hosting.

Customers moving from our competitors receive
up to JPY10,000 cashback on completion of migration.

http://tsukaeru.net/en
Isao 050-3533-8241

-----------------------------------------------------------

STAFF
Written by: Michael Condon, Editor-in-Chief, Japan Inc Magazine
READ PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS
Check out our other Japan-specific newsletters:
http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters_main_page
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
To advertise in this newsletter, contact: ads@japaninc.com
FEEDBACK AND PROBLEMS
We welcome your viewpoint: editors@japaninc.com
NB Please do not reply to this newsletter
-- it's outgoing only, so we won't get it!
Technical problems: webmaster@japaninc.com
Copyright (C) 2008 Japan Inc Communications KK.
All Rights Reserved.