Heads of the nation's top four toy makers announced Thursday that they will launch a joint venture with Softbank Corp. to sell toys over the Internet beginning in November.

The four companies are Bandai Co., Epoch Co., Tomy Co. and Takara Co., each will have a 2.5 percent stake in the new company to be named e-Shopping! Toys Corp, capitalized with 200 million yen.

"I understand that the four companies have a market share of 65 percent in total. I think (the move) is an epoch-making event," said Masayoshi Son, president of Softbank Corp., an Internet-related business investor.