Most information was then available free of charge on CNBC, the Weather Channel or Web sites run by Farm Journal and Pioneer, a seed and plant genetics division of DuPont.

FORBES: Third time's a charm for this little data provider. Or is it?

Masada, also part-owned by cable pioneer Daryl Harms, has six patents and a contract to operate a plant in Middletown, N.

FORBES: Show Me the Money

Masayasu Kitagawa, the governor of Mie prefecture and a pioneer of the new confrontational style, won celebrity last year by opposing the construction of a nuclear power plant.

ECONOMIST: Japan