Word: mitsui
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...hands. Desperate to raise capital, Japanese banks are finally overcoming their deeply ingrained disdain for foreign investors. American investment bank Merrill Lynch was recently allowed to take an $849 million stake in a company created by troubled UFJ Holdings, Japan's fourth largest bank. And two weeks ago, Sumitomo Mitsui, Japan's second largest bank, sold $1.27 billion worth of convertible preferred securities to investment bank Goldman Sachs...
...Crime and Compensate!" Meanwhile, a subtle, long-awaited change seems finally to be under way in Japan. After decades of denial, ordinary Japanese are displaying a creeping contrition that is reflected in the courtroom, if not yet by the government. In April, a district court in Fukuoka ordered the Mitsui Mining Co., a subsidiary of one of Japan's biggest conglomerates, to pay $1.4 million apiece to 15 Chinese forced to work in the company's mines during the war. (Japan transported an estimated 40,000 Chinese conscripts to its islands to work on construction sites and mines.) In August...
...live in Japan, however, snitching on the boss is not viewed as favorably by a society that traditionally values harmony over individual acts of conscience. Case in point: Tamaki Mitsui, a 58-year-old former prosecutor in the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office. Last April, Mitsui planned to appear on television to expose what he claimed was the systematic embezzlement of public funds by some of his colleagues. Before he could blow the whistle, members of Mitsui's own department arrested him. Mitsui's family and other supporters say the charges against him?tax evasion and collusion with...
...arrest may lend ammunition to Japanese who want to make the nation's politicians and companies more accountable. Some argue that Mitsui's plight is a powerful example of why the country needs a "whistle-blowers law," a legal shield to protect insiders who disclose damning information about their employers. "There are so many scandals concerning bureaucrats that have come to light in the past several years," says Mitsuru Sakurai, a member of the Diet, Japan's legislature. "I reckon 90% were exposed by people within the ministries. We have to encourage more people to follow their lead...
...Even if the bill is eventually passed, it won't help Mitsui, whose 30-year career as a public prosecutor ended with his arrest. He is now awaiting trial. "Somebody has to put a knife into the organization in order to restore the system," Mitsui said in a magazine interview given before he went to jail. For now, he'll have to console himself with the knowledge that, while his co-workers may hate him, others are willing to help him sharpen the knife...