> Wall Street Journal - October 11, 2005
>
> Industrial Evolution
> Japan's Economy Gains Steam
> By JATHON SAPSFORD
> Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
> Thus far, manufacturers in South Korea and China have been unable to
> mimic Japan's cutting-edge technologies. Some of the biggest
> customers for Nagoya's state-of-the-art machine shops, in fact, are
> other Asian manufacturers.
Sapsford gets most of it right, but it should be noted that Samsung, LG and others have some fabulously good tech of their own, and that the Chinese manufacturers are catching up fast. What's interesting is that East Asia is slowly getting less reliant on exports to the US and EU, and is beginning to consume its own surplus. This is creating the space for East Asia to grow together.
> To maintain a pipeline of new high-end products for its Japanese
> factories to build, Nagoya-area firms spend amply on research and
> development. The intricate web of cross-shareholding that ties many
> of them together makes it easier for them to set aside capital for
> such long-term purposes.
Yes, keiretsu capitalism has been going multinational for about ten years now.
> A Rodin sculpture towers above the entrance to Yamazaki's
> headquarters. The hall to the chairman's office is lined with works
> by Picasso, Sisley and Monet. Yamazaki paid cash for all of it.
Covert cultural recognition of East Asia's only serious competitor: the 800-kg Ueberbeast called Eurocapitalism.
-- DRR