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Comment by teruakohatu | Hacker News Reader

> Pretty much this. Honda was all but begged by the Japanese government to bail Nissan out. Remember that the Japanese government had a role in taking out Renault and preventing a French takeover of Nissan, their political hand was already overstretched.

I know little/nothing about Japanese politics. How exactly does the Government of Japan apply pressure to a public company to merge with another failing public company?

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> How exactly does the Government of Japan apply pressure to a public company to merge with another failing public company?

Structure doesn't matter. Culturally government cooperates with companies through "asking" (or pressuring if you like) as opposed to western approach where companies can (and will) do as they please within law/regulatory frameworks. Opposite works as well - companies can ask government and pretty much expect result.

Most of it stems from collective culture and family values and taken as something quite important.

I would imagine by implying that if Honda doesn't cooperate, they would face increased regulatory scrutiny. IE, Honda factories needs to have more safety inspections, vehicles fails to pass emissions tests, a finding that requires huge recalls, etc.

The last time the boss of Nissan didn’t do what they wanted, they put him in prison

Ghosn? He was charged for stealing millions of dollars from Nissan, but he fled the country before ever going to prison.

He was, but his corruption was clearly not the reason for his arrest. They were fine with him living like king until he went against the Nissan faction

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