Jim Breen wrote:

> As Debito's blog makes clear, it's not altogether a bad thing, and has
> a fair amount of "getting just desserts" attached to it.

Well, it _is_ Debito and it is doubtful he lives in the same Japan as
the rest of us anyway.  There was nothing new in his blog for anyone who
has actually studied how Japan works and not gotten all of their
information on the country from watching "Itsumo San-chome no Yuhi."

> Practices like Yohan's are illegal in Australia. A pity Japan doesn't
> have real trade-practices/restraint of trade laws.

Just about all publishing runs that way to one extent or another.  Yohan
was just more ruthless than most, eventually forcing Tower Records to
toe their line, too.  Amazon nailed the lid on their coffin in record
time and the death was justified.

Legality just depends on which dress it is wearing and who the fashion
critic is.  Getting a non-top-100 book on the shelves of the average
bookseller is effing near impossible in *any* major capitalist country
for any non-mainstream publisher.  And, if the topic is tripe, like most
of Debito's screeds, then the job is made doubly difficult.

-- 
CL