71.   The Japanese public strongly opposed the government plan announced late last year to use billions of dollars in public funds to liquidate the seven jusen.

72.   The government has confirmed three cases of mad cow disease in Japan since September, sending beef prices plummeting as the Japanese public lost their appetite for meat.

73.   The Japanese public had another gas scare Friday as police received a report of a bad smell at a railway station in Kyoto and ambulances rushed to the site.