It's no surprise that Nintendo has become the most valued "business to consumer" brand in Japan, but to see an aging anime studio like Ghibli, and a Western studio like Disney following right behind... I'm telling you, something is rotten in the state of a thousand lolicons per square kilometer. That is, if you're willing to trust a study called "Brand Japan 2008" conducted by NiikeiBP Consulting (via Nausicaa.net, via Giapet).

One year ago, all these brands ranked below #5, and in particular Ghibli's leap through time - from #12 to #2 - is quite impressive... if not dubious. Especially since it practically swapped places with Google almighty, which stumbled from #2 last year, down to #11. That's even lower than Yahoo!, for crying out loud! Something is definitely rotten in Japan...

Anyway, here are the top 10 brands, from the total of 40. And yes, it's no mistake, Nintendo owns twice in the top 5!

1. Nintendo
2. Studio Ghibli
3. Disney
4. Sony
5. Nintendo DS
6. Nissin
7. Toyota
8. Sharp
9. Yahoo!
10. Panasonic

I'm surprised there's no sign of 2ch in that list. Probably because they were only asking people who actually get out of the house...