Here are some things which I found interesting when reading the FT today:

* Japan Post is the world's biggest savings institution. It has US$ 3 trillion worth in deposits and almost 300,000 employees (400,000 according to Wikipedia). One third of government employees are employed by Japan Post.

* From October 2007, the government will begin a 10-year process in privatising the post bank. This will require an estimated 42 million steps of code to be written! *oh my gosh* They reckon that only 17m will be completed by the time privatisation starts.

* In the FT Lex column about Livedoor: "A generation schooled under Japan’s traditional system of vague regulatory frameworks is still grappling with the more precise rulebooks. Enforcement is compromised by the absence of a sufficiently powerful independent watchdog. And auditors are reluctant whistle-blowers. Parlous finances at Resona Bank were glossed over until a lone auditor refused to sign off on the books. Resona was later bailed out with Y2,000bn of taxpayers’ money. The auditor committed suicide." Wow, its strange how someone be so guilty for doing the right thing...