To avoid any sense of false hype-building, we'll admit right now: Softbank has already denied any involvement. But rumor has it that Yahoo is in discussions to sell its stake in Yahoo Japan to Softbank, and a whole lot of people are hoping that's the case. Yahoo Japan is, if you'll recall, not exactly the Yahoo most Americans know. Yahoo only owns 33 percent of the organization, while Softbank controls a 42 percent stake. And Yahoo Japan's also on a different path in other respects, considering it's arranged to make use of Google's search tech.