Hi everyone. Before we start today's episode, in lieu of our usual ad read, just a reminder

that episode 400 is coming up, and I will be taking questions for yet another question-and-answer

episode. So if you've got anything you'd like to ask me about topics related to Japanese

history, how the podcast gets produced about me personally

within reason, please let me know you can reach out through the Facebook page, through the

website, and I'll be collecting questions to put together, and I'm looking forward to seeing

what you all have to ask me. Without any further ado, let's get on with the show.

Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, episode 396, A Slice of the Pie, Part 3.

Last week, we talked about the death of LTCB, but here is the thing.

One of the many things that banks hold as an advantage over the rest of us is that they do not, in fact, necessarily have to stay dead. All they need is a fresh injection of money, and they come straight back to life.

In the case of LTCB, that meant finding someone, anyone, who would be willing to buy the bank

off of the Japanese government.

In essence, someone willing to pay in exchange for access to LTCB's assets,

from its name and logo to its physical properties, to the loans it still held.

To be fair, not a lot of people were necessarily interested in doing that.

After all, the reason the bank had failed in the first place was that its assets were not worth much compared to its substantial debts. However, starting in late

1998, rumors began to swirl among the former LTCB staff that there was, in fact, a buyer, but not one

any of them had expected.

They had expected that another Japanese bank would buy them out, or maybe a major Japanese company without a banking wing, that was looking to get into the banking sector.

But instead, the rumor was that the Americans were the ones coming calling, and not some

established American bank like Chase

or Bank of America or Bear Stearns. Remember Bear Stearns? This was a group called Riplewood

...