Stories of stellar cash burns have become the fruit of our morning breakfast reading. I don't know any internet company that can match that. Then again, Japan is a country that defies economic gravity, so I guess we should not be surprised. The construction industry is at the heart of Japan's political patronage system. The fact that this company is still allowed to breathe is a function of the fact that it and other construction companies have been a vital source of funding for the LDP at election times over the years.
Banks are too big to fail, and in Japan, so, it seems, are construction companies.
Strange that when we're asking whether parts of the Korean chaebol should be allowed to fail, we don't similarly ask whether the chronically inefficient Japanese construction industry shouldn't be treated in a like manner. Read our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions .