Here's an interesting take on Japanese corporate dynamics that still resonates today:

Most Japanese executives don't actually hold meaningful equity stakes in their own companies. Their connection to share price? More philosophical than financial. Without real skin in the game, they treat stock performance like someone else's problem.

And here's the kicker - Japan's corporate control market is practically dormant. No hostile takeovers breathing down their necks. No activist investors knocking on the door. Zero external pressure forcing change.

The result? Management inertia becomes the default setting. Why shake things up when there's no personal upside and no outside force demanding it? This structural misalignment explains why so many Japanese value stocks trade at ridiculous discounts despite solid fundamentals.