"The once-lionized keiretsu system has become a liability, " says analyst Chris Redl at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Tokyo.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

As its use spreads, what is left of the keiretsu-based distribution system is likely to disintegrate, as more business goes to discount retailers and the big wholesalers who serve them.

ECONOMIST: The electronic pill-box

Since Japan is struggling to free itself from a banking crisis caused partly by widespread connected lending (thanks to the system of corporate groups known as keiretsu, today's variant on the zaibatsu), Mr Ochi's preferences seem most peculiar.

ECONOMIST: Japanese banking