Although the car-parts companies have been ruthless with their own suppliers a tour of the depressed jobbing shops in Tokyo's Ota district gives a flavour there is fat to cut further up the supply chain.

ECONOMIST: Small Japanese companies

While Southeast Asian factories may turn out gadgets more cheaply than southeast Tokyo can, only Ota's artisans have the skills to refine precision equipment and create the molds used in Asia's complex assembly lines.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | GizmoLand! | Handmade Tales

Local LDP rivals (who wanted to run their own candidate) attempted to capitalize on anti-Tokyo sentiment by pointing out that Ota spent most of her time there.

CNN: Newsmakers

Folks in Tokyo's blue-collar Ota ward like to say that if you toss a good idea into the air, it will flutter back down to earth as a finished product.

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