The media has had a field day with Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of the communications firm Livedoor.
In the days leading up to his arrest last Monday, news reports appeared about him being under suspicion for allegedly illegal business dealings. The television stations featured footage of him cavorting about Tokyo's glitzy Roppongi district in his red Ferrari and speaking to company employees about plans to conquer the world's markets. We learned that he had a private jet, a lavish and sexy lifestyle and money to burn. Every Japanese newspaper article I read about his movements around Tokyo began with a description of what he was wearing -- T-shirt, jeans and sweater. The media's own message was clear: "It's fine to make yourself a conspicuous exception to the rule; but you had better make sure you are continually successful. In Japan, if you fall, you will be trampled on."
And Horie, whose guilt has not yet been proved in a court of law, has certainly been trampled on.