THE NAIL GETS HAMMERED

Outsider Horiemon gets 21/2 years in prison, an unusually harsh sentence in a country where crooked insiders get fined 5% of their graft; but the most remarkable statement in this article [emphasis mine] is that "Horie had repeatedly asserted his innocence during his intensely watched trial that began last September — a risky endeavor in a nation where 99 percent of criminal trials end in guilty verdicts, and a show of remorse can help win lenience."

Innocent until accused?

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March 22 update: "Japan has been abuzz with the unusually harsh prison term handed to former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie -- and the slap on the wrist given to scandal-tainted brokerage Nikko Cordial in another high-profile case of accounting fraud that, in monetary terms, was some eight times greater than Horie's firm."

"'What's happening is unfair,' said Koetsu Aizawa, economics professor at Saitama University. 'Slamming the little guy who stands out while letting big names go is what's so despicable about Japan.'"

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March 24 update: "In the past, executives charged with tampering with earnings reports, even at companies far bigger than Livedoor, had generally avoided prison terms and got suspended sentences." Livedoor slapped with largest-ever Japan corporate fine