Meanwhile, Japan has awakened to the fact that the United States has the lead in Internet business.
``The Internet has arrived in Japan, ' he said. ``A bunch of companies have been looking at business models in the U.S., taking equity stakes in some of those companies, and bringing those models back into Japan,' he said.
As for the high-flying yen, Jacobson said it reflects both an improving economy and renewed investor interest. ``The concern would be if it (the yen) appreciates too quickly,' he said. ``But the yen at 105 (per dollar) is not a problem at all.'
The Driehaus Asia Pacific Growth Fund returned 29.5 percent in the quarter, finishing in 11th place. Roughly half of the fund is invested in Japanese stocks. William Andersen, senior vice president at Driehaus Capital Management Inc., said fund manager Eric Ritter has had a big weighting in the Japanese over-the-counter market which is up about 200 percent so far this year.
``We think the Japanese economy is being transformed,' Andersen said, adding that new laws are helping smaller companies compete against larger, more established players.
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