Publishing

She is sharp, stylish and, at 29, the trusted confidante of business leaders and government finance officials. Armed with a Harvard M.B.A., she reports on Japanese business inroads in the U.S. and advises her boss on how to buy up a bank; meanwhile, she is carrying on a romance with a dashing economist. Sawako Matsumoto is the heroine in a hardcover, cartoon-style guide to economics that is published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Tokyo's largest business daily. The books sell for roughly $6.70 each and are a runaway hit in Japan. Soon to come: an animated television series, and perhaps feature films based on the economics comics.