Sure, it's no surprise to see bleeding-edge tech plummet in price soon after the initial craze is over, but Sony NEC Optiarc is estimating that Blu-ray disc drive prices will "drop 50 percent from current levels amid aggressive development" by other manufacturers.

ENGADGET: Blu-ray disc drive prices to be halved by 2008? HD

At the U.S. Patent Office Japanese firms (like Canon, Sony, NEC, Toshiba and others) consistently place in the top 10 or 20 of annual patent grantees.

FORBES: The 'Chapan' M & A Wave

Japanese handsets are among the most sophisticated in the world, and it's a market dominated by some of the toughest companies in electronics: Sharp, Panasonic, NEC, and Sony's joint venture with Ericsson, Sony Ericsson.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Consider some of the Japanese names not appearing on this Fabulous 50: Sony, Honda, Canon, Sharp, Aeon, NTT, NEC, Toshiba, Fujitso, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Fuji Photo Film, Nomura, Seven-Eleven, Mitsubishi and Mitsui.

FORBES: Missing in Action

Japanese handsets are among the most sophisticated in the world, and it's a market dominated by some of the toughest companies in electronics: Sharp, Panasonic, NEC (nasdaq: NIPNY - news - people ), and Sony's joint venture with Ericsson (nasdaq: ERIC - news - people ), Sony Ericsson.

FORBES: IPhone Invades Sony Territory