Tokyo prosecutors added the charge of nearly 700 million yen in corporate tax evasion against Norihisa Oga, 65, president of Oita-based consultant firm Daiko, and Hideo Namba, 61, head of another consultant in Osaka.

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Recession helps Hikari TV video service to secure 500,000 subscribers

TOKYO - NTT Plala Inc. said Monday the number of subscribers for its Internet-based Hikari TV video delivery service topped 500,000 as of March 11.

Demand for the service has increased as ''more people are staying at home on Saturdays and Sundays'' amid the economic slowdown, NTT Plala President Koji Bando said.

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Astellas to cut working hours on Fridays to improve work-life balance

TOKYO - Drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. said Monday that it will start reducing working hours every Friday by one hour and 45 minutes starting next month to help its employees improve their work-life balance.

Under the ''Family Friday'' program, Astellas will allow around 3,000 of its workers, including those in charge of accounting, human resources and research, to leave the office at 4 p.m. on Fridays.

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Energy saving may have 6 tril. yen impact on Japan economy

TOKYO - Promoting energy saving at public facilities and old private buildings may have an impact worth about 6 trillion yen on the Japanese economy and create 430,000 new jobs, the industry ministry said Monday.

A report prepared by a panel at the ministry said more energy saving needs to be done particularly at about 54,000 public facilities, including hospitals, schools and government offices, and about 550,000 private buildings built more than 15 years ago across the country.

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Mitsubishi Motors to continue production cuts into April

TOKYO - Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday it will suspend automobile production at three plants in Japan for four to eight days, in addition to regular holidays, in April.

The additional closure of production lines at the Nagoya plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, and Pajero Manufacturing Co. in the town of Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, is in line with Mitsubishi Motors' policy of continuing a year-on-year cut of more than 60 percent in domestic production, the automaker said.

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Nikkei rises to 2-month closing high on easing financial worries

TOKYO - Tokyo stocks advanced Monday on easing financial worries, with the key Nikkei index rising to an almost two-month closing high, as investors were hopeful about an imminent U.S. plan to clean up the financial system by absorbing toxic bank assets.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 269.57 points, or 3.39 percent, from Thursday to 8,215.53, its highest closing level since Jan. 29, when it finished at 8,251.24. The Nikkei ended above the psychologically important 8,000 level for the first time since Feb. 6.

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Euro hits 5-month high vs. yen on growing risk appetite

TOKYO - The euro briefly soared to a five-month high in the upper 131 yen level Monday in Tokyo as growing hopes for an imminent U.S. plan to clean up toxic assets in the banking sector sparked euro buying amid widening risk tolerance among investors.

Meanwhile, the dollar remained firm versus the yen as investors unloaded the Japanese currency to secure profits after its sharp rise versus the dollar last week.

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Key 10-year JGB yield ends unchanged

TOKYO - The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond closed unchanged Monday from Thursday amid investors' wait-and-see attitude ahead of U.S. plans to clean up toxic bank assets.

In interdealer trading, the yield on the No. 299, 1.3 percent issue finished at 1.260 percent. Japanese financial markets were closed Friday due to a national holiday.