> Certainly, Japan does not have any companies that are in the league of
> Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Systems, Intel, or even the revived IBM
Nonsense. Nintendo, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba, Hitachi, Sanyo, DoCoMo and Canon all own specific product niches which no US or EU firm can touch.
The poor-helpless-weak-Japan line just won't wash. Japan is a superpower with 2 trillion EUR in the bank which needs to get off its ass and spend, spend, spend. If Japan's market-besotted political elites aren't up to this, then that's a damning indictment of the LDP, for sure, but it would be unwise to, um, you know, bet against the lizard.
-- Dennis