From the very channel partners Shimano says it is protecting by avoiding online sales.

FORBES: Not.coms

The two exceptions, Giant and Shimano, suggest that the best Asian manufacturers could develop brand awareness, given time.

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Wayne Stetina, director of Shimano American's bicycle division, is caught in the middle.

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Twice I tipped off my board, barely clutching my Shimano fishing rig.

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The Duo City has an eight speed internal Shimano shifter, which my neighbor fawned over, who bikes daily on New York City streets.

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Shimano American shuns cyberspace to sell exclusively to bicycle makers, which install its parts on their frames, and to distributors that supply bike shops.

FORBES: Not.coms

There is a battery life indicator on the left handlebar, and the Shimano Revo-shift lever -- which controls what gear you're in -- on the right.

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But Shimano is online anyway.

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But in the past 15 years, despite (or perhaps because of) the emperor and the government's best efforts, bass fishing has become the new Elvis in Japan, especially among the country's youth, where the sport has tapped into all of the outlaw, counter-culture character (and growth) that skateboarding has in the U.S. Japan-based tackle manufacturers, like Yozuri, Shimano and Daiwa , now supply bass anglers all over the world.

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