Time to Sharpen the Blade

You remember in March of the Wooden Soldiers when Santa ordered 600 1-foot soldiers but Stan Laurel thought he ordered 100 6-foot soldiers? Well, it was just revealed that earlier this year, when a client of Mizuho Securities in Japan placed an order to sell one share of stock for 610,000 yen, somone entered the transaction as 610,000 shares for 1 yen! Stan Laurel's mistake nearly cost Ma Peep her shoe-house. This trading error, on the other hand, cost Mizuho $225 million.

The upsetting thing here is the human tragedy that will no doubt follow this. In such an honor-bound society, such an egregious error will no doubt be deeply felt not just by the unfortunate executor of the faulty trade but a legion of supervisors above him. In the Land of the Rising Sun, shame can destroy lives for much less.