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Japanese firms shop abroad
进军海外
Armed with a strong yen
以强势日元攻破海外市场
Why Japan Inc has been going on a foreign spree
为何日本企业转而血拼海外
MR TICKLE and Mr Bump are leaping into bed with Hello Kitty.
奇先生与妙小姐中的挠痒痒先生和莽撞先生癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉，蹿上了凯蒂猫的床。
Sanrio, the owner of the bow-adorned feline, said on December 6th that it had acquired the Mr Men franchise from Chorion of Britain.
三丽欧公司是戴蝴蝶结猫的主人，该公司于12月6日说其已从英国购买了奇先生的特许经销权。
The deal, for an estimated 3 billion,brings the Japanese design and licensing firm 86 playful characters who have delighted toddlers in 30 countries and shifted 100m books.
这次交易估计价值为30亿日元使得日本这个设计和经销公司拥有了86个曾给30个国家幼儿带去欢乐的幽默好玩的人物。该书在市面上售出上亿本。
Corporate Japan is on an overseas shopping spree.
日本的公司在海外疯狂地进行兼并扩展。
Japanese firms spent a record $80 billion on some 620 foreign companies in 2011, according to Dealogic, a firm that measures such things, exceeding the previous record of 466 deals worth $75 billion in 2008.
据专门衡量公司并购的研究机构迪罗基表示，2011年日本公司耗资800亿美元收购了620个左右的外国公司，从而打破了2008年创下的750亿美元购得466企业的历史记录。
When Japan Inc went shopping abroad in the 1980s, it was a sign of strength.
二十世纪八十年代，日本公司往海外开疆拓土时，那时是国力强盛的标志。
Japanese companies were spreading their wings because they were growing. This time, it is a symptom of weakness.
这次是其国力衰退的征兆。
The past year in Japan has been wretched.
过去的一年对于日本来说是凄凄惨惨的一年。
An earthquake and tsunami in March wrecked factories and disrupted supply chains, creating shortages of all sorts of crucial components. Radiation fears hurt exports.
今年3月发生的地震和海啸摧毁了工厂使供应链瘫痪，导致各种关键零部件严重短缺。
A strong yen walloped profits.
人们对幅射的担忧影响了出口。
Floods in Thailand interrupted the distribution of electronics and car parts.
坚挺的日元蚕食了利润。泰国的洪水中断了对电子和汽车部件的配送。
Corporate-governance scandals cast a black cloud over blue suits nationwide.
公司、政府丑闻层出不穷，像乌云黑压压地笼罩在这个岛国上空。
The Japanese population is ageing and shrinking.
日本的人口在老化缩减。
The economy is sluggish. Consumption is lacklustre.
经济不景气。消费萎靡不振。
So Japanese firms find it nearly impossible to expand domestically.
故日本公司在国内几乎找不到可以扩展的地方。
At the same time, thanks to crises elsewhere in the rich world, the yen is extraordinarily strong.
同时，幸亏其他发达国家的经济危机，日元非常地坚挺。
It has appreciated by 45% against the dollar in the past four years.
在过去的四年中，日元对美元已升值45%。
And having learned thrift during their own banking crisis a decade ago, Japanese firms are flush:
日本从其十年前的银行危机中学到了节约开支的教训，日本公司利润丰厚：
big listed companies are sitting on a cash pile of ￥60 trillion.
大的上市公司坐拥价值60万亿的现金。
With all this buying power and few opportunities at home, it is hardly surprising that Japanese firms are snapping up foreign companies, especially in fast-growing emerging economies.
随着国内购买力低迷和机会减少，日本到处抢滩海外市场尤其是高速发展的新兴经济体则不足为奇。
Unless we grow we're not able to stay alive simply by staying in Japan,
若国内有市场，我们则仍继续呆在日本求生存。
explains Tadashi Yanai, the boss of Uniqlo's Fast Retailing, a big clothing firm.
服装巨头优衣库的老板柳井正解释道。
The time is ripe for foreign deals, he chirps.
他感叹道向海外进军的时机成熟了。
The economic crises in America and Europe have pummelled share prices, making companies cheaper to acquire.
美国和欧洲的经济危机使公司股票严重缩水，使得收购公司易于反掌。
Back in the 1980s Japanese firms hunted trophies such as golf courses and film studios.
回顾二十世纪八十年代，日本公司海外扩张的战利品包括高尔夫球场和电影制片厂。
Now they are taking a more pragmatic approach, buying solid firms in fast-growing markets and filling gaps in their product lines.
现在他们采取更务实的策略，即从高速增长的市场中购买实体工厂以填补其生产线的空白。
For example, Kirin, a big Japanese brewer, is acquiring a majority stake in Schincariol, a Brazilian one, for $2.6 billion.
例如，日本的啤酒制造巨头麒麟啤酒以26亿美元的代价获得了巴西的Schincariol公司的股份控制权。
The Japanese beer market is flat; Brazil's is growing by 10% a year.
日本的啤酒市场非常平淡；巴西的啤酒以年均10%的速度在增长。
The biggest deal of the year was when Takeda, a Japanese drug firm, bought Nycomed, a Swiss one, for 1 trillion.
今年最大的并购当数日本的医药公司Takeda以1万亿日元将瑞士药厂Nycomed收入旗下。
Almost 40% of Nycomed's sales are in emerging markets.
新兴市场占据了Nycomed将近40%的销售。
Japanese trading houses are hungrily buying energy projects, especially those involving shale gas.
日本商行迫不急待出手能源项目尤其是涉及到页岩天然气的项目。
This year they spent $10 billion, up from less than $3 billion in 2010.
今年他们在这些项目上的投资从2010年的不到30亿美元上升到100亿美元。
The pace of such deals accelerated after Japanese nuclear-power plants were suspended following the nuclear accident at Fukushima in March,
在今年3月福岛核事故发生后，日本原子能工厂项目被中止，使得许多日本人担心国内能源供应。
which made many Japanese worry about their energy supply.
故日本加大了收购海外能源的步伐。
Toshiba spent $1.6 billion on Landis+Gyr, which makes smart electricity meters for homes.
东芝在制造家用智能电表Landis+Gyr身上投资了16亿美元。
Sony paid $8.4 billion for control of its cellphone venture, Sony Ericsson, a stake in the record label EMI and other stuff.
索尼花了84亿美元以控制手机企业索爱，且获得了百代唱片公司和其他公司的股份。
This time really is different
这次是真的与往昔不同
In the past, Japanese firms would parachute in bosses from Tokyo to run the show.
在过去，日本公司从东京空降一批高层来接管新兼并的企业，
Many were monocultural and mediocre.
很多高层人员近亲繁殖，水平一般。
Now, Japanese firms wisely rely on local talent.
现如今日本公司明智地依赖当地人才。
Many of the new generation of Japanese executives have lived and worked abroad,
许多新一代的高管们具有在国外生活和工作的经验。
notes Shinsuke Tsunoda, the head of mergers and acquisitions in Japan at Nomura, a Japanese securities house.
值得留意的有野村证券交易所并购的Shinsuke Tsunoda领导。
This means they are more comfortable doing deals with foreigners, and they are better at integrating the foreign firms they buy with their new Japanese owners.
这意味着这些高层人员与外国人打交道更舒服，而且他们能更好地整合所并购的海外企业而非本国企业。
The foreign shopping spree is internationalising Japanese industry by the back door.
抢滩国外市场使日本企业使通过幕后交易达到国际化目的。
Japan Inc is acting like a massive sovereign-wealth fund, placing its money abroad to earn investment income at home.
日本公司就像巨大的主权财富基金，将钱投资于国外为本国获得投资收入。
When old people retire, they tend to live off their savings.
当老人退休后，他们凭储蓄度日。
They supply capital to younger, sprightlier, cash-strapped folk, who put it to work and pay dividends or interest to the retirees.
并为年轻有为，朝气蓬勃且资金拮据的新一代提供资本用于投资。年轻人则支付红利或利息给退休人员。
That is, roughly speaking, what Asia's ageing archipelago is starting to do.
大致说来，这正是这个日益老龄化的亚洲群岛正开始做的事。
