Analysis: Stark choices face Japan Inc, sick man of Asia

A sign hanging opposite Tadashi Yanai's spacious 31st floor Tokyo office reads: 'Change or die'. The head of Japan's leading apparel chain, Fast Retailing (9983.T), believes it's a message corporate Japan must heed. As Japan's lost decade stretches into a lost generation, the nation and its corporations face ever starker choices as grinding competition in foreign markets, fading opportunities at home, and a soaring yen expose the failings of slow moving management and a hesitancy to engage with the rest of the world. Toyota Motor (7203.T) remains the world's biggest automaker by value, but has seen market share slip to General Motors (GM.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and has South Korea's Hyundai (005380.KS) in its rear-view mirror. (Reuters)