Keiretsu
In the 1990s, there was a financial crisis in East Asia.  Most of the companies in keiretsu decided to cut costs.  This weakened the keiretsu because each company wanted to get the best deal, even if it wasn't with a company in its own keiretsu.  Japan made treaties with other countries that required it to break up some of the keiretsu because of antitrust laws.