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To: TobagoJack who wrote (5065)	5/2/2000 12:01:00 AM
From: high.hopes	Respond to of 6018

Jay, so . . the story goes . . The "Watanabe" family, is rolling out SpinCycle's? LOL! Humm, perhaps someone more sane than I should answer you! (Could not resist - sorry!)

To: TobagoJack who wrote (5065)	5/2/2000 12:04:00 AM
From: b_spiral	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6018

Hmmm, first a HK clothing manufacturer, a bank, a Chinese medicine manufacturer, and now a coin laundry. Soon I hear they will be investing in carwashes. The dotcom zaibatsu is dead --let's here it for the value zaibatsu. Other nifty investment ideas for the new 9984. Discount clothing, coffee shops, Dollar Stores and high end Beauty (nail) Shops and of course hair restoration/viagra stores. You can start your own list... This could be a good one - they have 25% equity and I assume they do nothing for it. Gary

To: TobagoJack who wrote (5065)	5/2/2000 2:14:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6018

I'll see your laundromat and I'll raise you two gas stations... Tuesday, May 2, 2000 Japan Oil Firms Turning Gas Stations Into E-Commerce Outlets TOKYO (Nikkei)--Major oil distributors in Japan are turning to the Internet to help struggling gas stations weather hard times. Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corp. (5001) and Cosmo Oil Co. (5007), among others, are poised to embark on e-commerce, turning their gas station networks into Internet outlets for product pickup and payment. Nippon Mitsubishi Oil, the nation's largest oil distributor, has launched a joint venture with Softbank Corp. (9984) to sell child safety seats and car accessories online. Customers can pick up ordered items at some 270 Nippon Mitsubishi service stations in the greater Tokyo region starting in late May. Installation service will be also offered. The network of e-commerce gas stations will be expanded to 2,000 within the year and to 7,500, or more than half of Nippon Mitsubishi's 13,000 service stations nationwide, in five years. The oil distributor is also looking to offer golf equipment, outdoor goods and home improvement products. Similarly, Cosmo Oil will launch a Web site this fall featuring automobile-related information and products. Customers can electronically purchase auto parts, books, automobile magazines and outdoor goods, and pick up items at any of some 1,000 of Cosmo's 6,000 service stations around the country. Cosmo's credit cards, currently issued to those who buy gas at Cosmo stations, will be used to settle payments online. Cosmo targets annual sales of 5 billion yen. Gas stations are suffering declining profitability amid intensifying competition. In addition, steep rises in crude oil prices last year took a toll on the nation's service stations. At the end of March, the number of gas stations around the country fell to an estimated 55,000, down more than 1,000 since March 1999. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Tuesday morning edition) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------