Who said the dotcom boom was over? It is not in Japan, where Takafumi Horie is the latest business poster boy. The 32-year-old chairman of Livedoor, an internet upstart that is trying to swallow the giant Nippon Broadcasting Systems by any means necessary, is said to be blowing the winds of modernity through Japan's consensus-driven capital markets.

The establishment hates him and his cunning hostile bid. Many on the outside have a sneaking regard for the man thumbing his nose at old Japan.