Funds get activist in Japan

Behind Japan’s headline economic restructuring, a gradual but fundamental shift in Japan’s corporate ownership is taking place. A growing band of fund managers is encouraging companies to change; in some cases forcing them to do so. In the process the managers are making a tidy sum. Chris Leahy reports.

Japan emerges from the shadows | A new generation embraces M&A | Nikkei heads for 24,000 by 2010… or soonerDebt is not a dirty wordLiving in the past; paying with the future

JAPAN IS NOTHING if not conformist. Centuries of tradition and strict social etiquette impose restraints on the individual for the benefit of society. An air of calm pervades the well-ordered streets of Tokyo where even policemen, parking attendants and security guards salute and bow smartly to passers-by.

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