That was fine during Japan's boom years.

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When the state does its job well, that is fine: in Japan, students pay companies such as Benesse, one of the world's biggest educational firms, to get them through the entrance exams of the most prestigious state-run schools.

ECONOMIST: A contract on schools | The

Mr. STEVENSON: Now, I happen to have a digital camera from Japan, and it works just fine with my PC.

NPR: Ad Report Card: Apple's Sour Mac Pitch

Its goal of prompting growth in the underachieving domestic side of Japan's economy is a fine one, and certainly there is room for huge productivity improvements in some areas, particularly agriculture.

ECONOMIST: Deflation in Japan

Look, Japan and Apple will both be fine.

FORBES: Only Knuckleheads Count Out Japan Or Apple

South Korea's joy was short lived though, as they missed all three of their penalties -- Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima making two fine saves -- which left Yasuyuki Konno to convert the winning penalty and spark wild scenes of celebration.

CNN: Japan to face Australia in Asian Cup final

It began with a list of all the fine things that governments had already done to contain the crisis (Japan's decisive steps to solve its banking problems, and so on), as if to imply that the world economy had turned the corner.

ECONOMIST: Transparent hype

Fine as to the first, but, as argued here repeatedly, Japan--and the larger world economy that still relies greatly on Tokyo--needs more bold strokes.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Miss Tett does a fine job with the narrative, and in setting one bank's story in the larger tragedy of Japan's broken political economy.

ECONOMIST: Japan's sick economy