Note 1-25

25 According to a survey conducted by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (March 7, 2006 edition of Nikkei Financial Daily), stock trading via the Internet has increased sharply since the summer of last year, with trading through five major online securities companies in 2005 amounting to 153 trillion yen (up 82% over the preceding year). By age group, people in their 30s and 40s were most active online traders, with their combined trading accounting for about 50% of online stock trading in value.