Japanese Firms Report No Y2K Problems

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese companies and financial markets reported no computer-related problems Thursday with the arrival of 9/9/99, a date that some experts had said could be a mini pre-cursor to the Y2K worries at the end of the year.

Some of the oldest computer programmes still operating use "9999" as a command to shut down, and while problems were seen as unlikely, there were some minor ripples ahead of the event.

The Bank of Japan said it had to pump fresh funds into the banking system Wednesday as some banks scrambled to get extra funds in case there were any problems in the computer-dependent financial markets.

The BOJ added 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) worth of Treasury bills Wednesday amid reports that some foreign banks were hurriedly getting more cash.

Some firms, including the Japan Railways national rail network, also took advantage of the date to run dress rehearsals for their Y2K preparations.

JR had previously said it would stop its trains for around 10 minutes at midnight on December 31 as a precaution, to avoid trains being stranded between stations if there was a problem.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said its systems were operating normally. An official said all went smoothly when they switched their bond futures programmes to the September 9 date late Wednesday.

Firms around the world have spent billions of dollars to ensure that their computers will continue to operate when their system clocks switch to 2000.

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Don't we all feel better now!!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), September 08, 1999

Answers

Yep. Me, too. I feel like stopping off and picking up another sack of rice on the way home...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 08, 1999.