Murakami Yoshiaki Gets Hammered Down

Murakami Yoshiaki (that’s my son’s name, too…but no doubt the characters are different) faces a possible three years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000 – small change when you considere the billions he has made.

Murakami is a corporate raider in a land where business is done by consensus.

In the end, he admitted to inadvertently "breaking the law" by buying shares after he had "heard" that a company might be the target of a hostile takeover.

Normally, this is called insider trading. But the Japanese also have a way of not saying things directly. It causes nightmares for many foreigners.

The  46 year old Murakami said, "I am a professional among professionals in the stock market. I realized I made a mistake."

Japanese like apologies…though they are not always inclined to offer them up soon enough.  Judges often say, "because you show no remorse, your sentence is increased to…."

One wonders how much of Murakami’s jail time and fine will be reduced because of his admission of guilt and acknowledgement of wrongdoing.

What we do know for sure, is this nail has been hammered down.