German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim achieved the first successful hostile takeover of a publicly listed company in Japan when it went for SSP Co.
With the external environment gradually changing, companies accustomed to Japan's "village society" will be subjected to U.S.-style takeover attempts.
Last year, the value of merger and acquisition transactions in Japan reached 7 trillion yen. It was described as the first year of mergers and acquisitions in Japan -- but there was no hostility.