Editor's Message

October continued what September started with the global financial meltdown, as it’s now being widely called, spreading even further afield. The big news in Japan being the Japanese megabanks, such as Nomura and Mitsubishi UFJ Group (MUFG), buying into Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley respectively. Also the Tokyo Stock Exchange continued to make headlines around the world, fluctuating wildly, mainly in the downward direction. The TSE saw its worst week ever, which was followed by a record 14 percent gain which was then followed by an 11.9 percent drop (the worst one-day drop since October 1987). Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano announced plans for a second economic stimulus package to help out households hurt by the economic downturn while Prime Minister Taro Aso’s cabinet approval rating dropped 3.6 percentage points to 45.9 percent.

Michael CondonMichael Condon
Editor-in-chief

Please send letters to the editor to michael@japaninc.com

This month J@pan Inc examines the buyouts by Nomura and MUFG with some insider accounts of what has been going on within the walls of Lehman Brothers and analysis of the Morgan Stanley deal. We also take a broader look at the situation as it continues to affect financial institutions, federal banks and, increasingly, the average person. Meanwhile, Jesper Koll writes that a direct comparison between the American banks now and the Japanese banks in the 1990s cannot be made, arguing that increased regulation and a nationalization of the US banking system will mean that we will see a much different scenario in the US over the next few years.

Also in this month’s issue we examine the IT scene in Japan with our cover story examining the history of Fusion Systems, a foreign company that has seen the industry evolve from essentially the pre-Internet days to the threshold of a Web revolution. Also within the IT special, writer Chris Salzberg talks to one of the bloggers who streamed the aftermath of the Akihabara massacre. Chris examines how the incident became a world-first case study into how new media is changing the face of news coverage. We also interviewed some of Tokyo’s most innovative web developers, including Zooomr wunderkind Kristopher Tate and Jig.jp’s Taisuke Fukuno, as they prepare to take on the world.

 

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TEAM

Publisher
Terrie Lioyd
terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com

Director
Jack Turner
jack@japaninc.com

Director
James Porteous
kiwijim@japaninc.com

COO
Alan Malcolm
alan@japaninc.com

Office Coordinator
Yumiko Tanaka

Production Manager
Rich Whitworth

Editor-in-Chief
Michael Condon
michael@japaninc.com

Journalist
Sarah Noorbakhsh
sarah@japaninc.com

Editor
Anna Kitanaka

Art Director
Phillip Couzens
phil@japaninc.com

Ad Sales
Samuel Clements
sam@japaninc.com

Ad Sales
Yuki Ito
yuki@japaninc.com

Ad Sales
Zane Inglis
zane@japaninc.com

Contributors
Saki Nakane
Nikolai Proske
Shaun Davies
Robert Sanzalone
Hugh Ashton
Ken Kanno
Chris Betros
Chris Salzberg
Jason Miks
Ellen Bee
Jesper Koll
Brett Bull
Ken Worsley
Kevin Mcgue
Benjamin Brown

Photography
Sarah Noorbakhsh
Hiromi Iguchi

(Cover)
Brett Bull

 

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