In his Oct. 25 article, “Western media distorts Japan,” Gregory Clark tries to justify the reprehensible behavior of certain executives of Olympus.
Doubtless Olympus is a first-rate Japanese company in terms of the products it offers, but to suggest that the news reporting on former President Michael Woodford’s sacking typifies the shallowness of much Western reporting in Japan is absurd.
Olympus, like many Japanese companies, made some hugely ill-advised financial investments in the name of zaitech during the bubble era. They invested large amounts of borrowed money in financial instruments that promised a tiny pickup in yield by risking the total loss of the principal amount invested.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.