This was presumably going on behind the scenes even while the two companies held hands in public for the sake of the Xbox 360 and the first-gen peripheral.

FORBES: Microsoft's Kinect For Xbox One: What It Can Do And Why It's Special

The Asian crisis of the late 1990s shattered elements of the Asian growth model, which had relied on size for its own sake, and put the money generated by rising productivity into the hands of consumers.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Luckily (for the sake of the Model J) this car eventually found its way into the hands of a noted collector of Duesenbergs, Holmer Fitterling of South Bend, Ind.

FORBES: Vehicles Feature

So whether you see the blossoms or the vomit, a half full cup of sake or a half empty can of beer, the future of Japan is in the hands of the Japanese, not the New Economy gurus we read about in TIME, Newsweek and Fortune.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Letter from Japan: Economic Binge