New (fiscal) Year news

It being the first day of the fiscal year, all sorts of official stuff is going on:

The Osaka Stock Exchange has finally gone ahead with its plan to list itself on its own market for startups, Hercules; demand for the shares has been such that they have as yet failed to set a price. The shares are in buy indication at about Y300,000, versus the original price of Y170,000.

[Via the Asahi Shimbun (Japanese)]

The Tokyo metropolitan government is going ahead with its plan to start up a new bank for small and medium-sized firms hit by major banks' reluctance to lend to them (how much longer is that going to be the case, though?). The city has bought the Tokyo arm of BNP Paribas for Y2.28 bn and, as of today, has officially renamed it Shin Ginko Tokyo (New Bank Tokyo). The city has invested Y100 bn in the new entity.

[Via the Sankei Shimbun (Japanese)]

Major Tokyo subway operator Eidan Chikatetsu is a private company as of today, and is now known as Tokyo Metro. All lines are now coded with a letter, and each of the stations on the line has a number. This is supposedly to help tourists navigate the system; posters in the stations show a TM employee telling two foreign-looking types to "get off at G 09 for Ginza". Must be a relief for them to be able to mumble a few alphanumerics at tourists and get back to doing some real work.

[Via the Sankei Shimbun (Japanese)]

April 1 also sees a change in price labelling in shops; prices must now include consumption tax. So nothing will seem quite as cheap any more, but at least there isn't a 5% surprise waiting at the cash register.

[Via the Asahi Shimbun (Japanese)]

Posted by aragoto at April 01, 2004 04:29 PM | TrackBack