BUSINESS Japan cut its overall economic assessment for the first time in three months on Monday, saying that exports, output and corporate profits are all weakening. [MAINICHI]

BUSINESS Domestic auto manufacturers are gearing up to produce passenger vehicles powered by environmentally friendly diesel engines. [YOMIURI]

BOOKS/MANGA A budget panel of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly on Wednesday approved a controversial plan to invest an additional 40 billion yen for Shinginko Tokyo on condition that the metropolitan government strengthens its surveillance of the heavily indebted bank and spends no more taxpayers’ money on it. [KYODO]

BUSINESS Business confidence among Japanese companies plummeted in the January-March quarter from the previous quarter, mainly on concerns of higher oil prices and the sluggish U.S. economy, a government survey showed Monday. [ASAHI]

BUSINESS The finance ministers of Japan and China agreed Sunday to protect Asia’s economy from the slowdown in the United States economy and the global turmoil being caused by the subprime-mortgage crisis, Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

STOCKS Foreign investors last week sold the most Japanese shares since the Black Monday market crash in October 1987 after the yen rose to a 12-year high, clouding the profit outlook for exporters. [BLOOMBERG]

BUSINESS Bank of Japan’s interim governor Masaaki Shirakawa vowed Friday not to let the absence of a governor hamper the country’s economic and financial activities while another central bank official said the economy is slowing “sharply.“ [AP]

BUSINESS Thirty percent of major companies plan to recruit more new graduates in spring 2009 than this year, indicating labor demand remains strong despite growing uncertainties over the economy, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed. [ASAHI]

BUSINESS Masaaki Shirakawa will be able to lead the Bank of Japan during the global financial crisis even though he’s an acting chief named only because two earlier nominations collapsed, economists said. [BLOOMBERG]

BUSINESS The government on Wednesday revised downward its economic assessment, suggesting that the nation’s longest postwar recovery, which started in February 2002, has hit a temporary lull for the third time. [ASAHI]

BUSINESS Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd. said Wednesday it will raise the prices of both fried chicken and other products on April 24 for the first time since its founding in 1970 due to materials price hikes. [KYODO]

BUSINESS Two rival cellphone carriers touting easy-to-use handsets are taking their battle to a new field: the Tokyo District Court. [ASAHI]

BUSINESS Wal-Mart Stores will buy the rest of Japanese chain Seiyu as the U.S. retail giant seeks the flexibility it says it needs to turn around the money-losing supermarket operator. [MAINICHI]

BUSINESS The total operating costs of Shinginko Tokyo bank were equivalent to nearly 40 percent of the 126 billion yen in losses the bank has accumulated since it started business in April 2004, it has been learned. [YOMIURI]

BUSINESS The dollar fell below 100 yen earlier today for the first time since 1995 and dropped to a record low against the euro after a Carlyle Group fund moved closer to collapse, adding to turmoil in financial markets. [BLOOMBERG]

BUSINESS Major automakers and electronics companies said Wednesday they will raise base wages and bonuses for a third consecutive year but the increases will be moderate this time because of global economic uncertainties. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20080313a1.html]

BUSINESS Some of the most famous names in the world of fashion, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Bulgari, Rolex and Cartier, are losing an estimated Y500bn ($4.3bn) a year in Japan from the sale of fake designer goods over the internet. [FINANCIAL TIMES]

BUSINESS The 28.5 billion yen of irrecoverable loans at Shinginko Tokyo accounts for around 10 percent of the overall loan amount of the bank, which is backed by the Tokyo metropolitan government, informed sources said Sunday. [KYODO]

BUSINESS As the Beijing Olympics approach, domestic TV makers are stepping up production of new products, banking on viewer interest in the event to create demand for new TVs. [ASAHI]

BUSINESS ShinGinko Tokyo, the teetering bank established by the metropolitan government for small businesses, has accumulated 8.6 billion yen in uncollectible loans, some of which were likely extended to fraudulent businesses, officials said. [ASAHI]