The sale of its Japanese unit heralds the end of Vodafone's global ambitionsIT WAS supposed to be a crystal ball, but turned out to be an Achilles heel. Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, took control of J-Phone, Japan's third-largest operator, in 2001 with two aims: to exploit Japan's lead in mobile telecoms to boost Vodafone's fortunes elsewhere, and to use Vodafone's global scale to win a larger share of the Japanese market.