Free Republic

Japanese financial services minister Tadahiro Matsushita was found dead at his residence in Tokyo on Monday, police said, adding they suspect the country's top financial regulator committed suicide.The police have yet to disclose details about the death of Matsushita, 73. A member of the People's New Party, the coalition partner of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Matsushita served concurrently as postal privatization minister. Matsushita was a five-term member of the House of Representatives from Kagoshima Prefecture.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics makers JVC (6792.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Kenwood Corp (6765.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday they would merge under a holding company on October 1 to fight fierce price competition and growing costs of product development. But the new entity would still fall far behind some of its rivals in size as combined sales of the two companies totaled 823.7 billion yen ($8 billion) in the year ended March 31, or less than one-tenth of Panasonic maker Matsushita's (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) 9 trillion yen. Kenwood offers car electronics and audio equipment, while JVC...

(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) A Bronx man who moved abroad after the September 11 attacks was among those missing in London after the transit bombings there. According to his friends and relatives, 37-year-old Michael Matsushita, formerly of the Riverdale section, has not been heard from since Thursday when he left for work. He normally takes a subway that passes through London's King's Cross station, the site of one of three of the train bombings. Matsushita's fiancee, Rosie Cowan, told The Evening Standard of London that they met while working as international tour guides in Vietnam, and recently moved together to...

July 9, 2005 -- A globetrotting Bronx man is still missing in the London terror attacks and feared dead by friends and family who waited in vain yesterday for word of his fate. Michael Matsushita, pictured here in the loving arms of his British girlfriend, Rosie Cowen, has not been seen since she said goodbye to him at their London apartment Thursday morning - as he set off for the doomed Piccadilly subway line that exploded near King's Cross station and killed at least 21 passengers