Not to be left out, GE Capital struck a deal in February with Toho Mutual Life Insurance.

FORBES: Hot-deal time in Tokyo

That let the U.S. firm enlist Toho's 7, 000 agents and leave moneylosing portfolios in the original firm.

FORBES: Japan is changing

Since Toho Mutual, a medium-sized insurer, collapsed in 1999, consumers have become nervous about the safety of their policies.

ECONOMIST: Life insurers in Japan

Having launched ADV with buddy Matthew Greenfield, Ledford contacted Toho, the Japanese production company best known for its Godzilla flicks.

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"We were a little bit concerned about his ability to distribute the film, " says Shozo Watanabe, general manager of Toho's Los Angeles office.

FORBES: Why Grow Up?

Pacific Rim is a modern take on the Toho monster movie, with plucky humans controlling giant robots in a battle agains gigantic horrors from the deep.

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Foremost are the so-called Shibuya three (their head offices are in the Shibuya district): Chiyoda, Japan's eighth-biggest life company, and Toho and Nippon Dantai, two middling-sized firms.

ECONOMIST: Japanese insurance

Up to its ears in bad debt, Toho let the U.S. firm peel away 7, 000 of its brokers for a new joint venture while steering clear of Toho's existing liabilities.

FORBES: Hot-deal time in Tokyo