Space Battleship Yamato, an enormously popular manga, points to another concern of the time -- the environment.

CNN: The War Mangas

Natume believes Yamato struck a chord with readers who were just learning about the heavy price of industrial pollution.

CNN: The War Mangas

Japan, Taohan publishers and Yamato Transport all get a piece of the action.

CNN: FROM THE WEB

Besides the castle thing, there were concerns that selling the headquarters would make people think Yamato was in financial trouble.

CNN: SELLING THE COMPANY CASTLE

Last year the finance director of mid-sized Yamato Mutual Life Insurance hired U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs to undertake the securitization of its 26-story main office in downtown Tokyo.

CNN: SELLING THE COMPANY CASTLE

Yamato Transport, which found a way round government regulations that prevented trucking companies from operating nationwide, has close to half of the parcel-delivery business in Japan and is now spreading abroad.

ECONOMIST: Japan��s growth companies