Employees of public organizations and many private companies experienced the last business day of the century in various ways across Japan on Thursday.

Workers at Snow Brand Milk Products Co., which caused massive food poisoning this summer, were busy paying yearend respects to clients.

A 50-year-old male employee of the company's Osaka branch in Yodogawa Ward reflected on the past year, saying: "It was a hard year. All we can do is try hard to regain the public trust."

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, about 60 Miyake village officials consulted with village residents who had evacuated Miyake Island in early September due to volcanic activity.

All of the roughly 3,800 residents on the island evacuated, and village officials have since been working at a temporary office set up within the metro government building in Shinjuku.

Village Mayor Ko Hasegawa visited central government offices to greet officials. Seiki Kikuchi, the head of the village's general affairs division, said, "Our employees worked really hard during the dangerous eruptions on the island."

Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka, 44, had a tight schedule even on the last working day of the year.

He appeared on a television program and was interviewed by a weekly magazine in Tokyo on Wednesday, then rushed back to the city of Nagano on the earliest bullet train Thursday morning.

"I expect that local residents and prefectural officials will rest during the New Year's holiday season. But I will work on New Year's Day," said the popular novelist-turned-governor, who was elected to the post in an October election that drew attention nationwide.

The Okinawa Development Agency will be integrated with the Cabinet Office in the realignment of central government ministries and agencies Jan. 6.

An agency official said, "Okinawa's issues will remain unchanged despite the organizational change, and I will work hard to resolve the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in the mainland of Okinawa."

Snow Brand apology

OSAKA -- Kohei Nishi, president of Snow Brand Milk Products Co., visited Osaka City Hall on Thursday, the final working day of the year for public servants, and apologized for the food-poisoning incident that affected more than 13,000 people in western Japan in June and July.

Visiting City Hall at 10:30 a.m., Nishi bowed his head deeply to Junichi Seki, deputy mayor of Osaka, saying: "I apologize for the trouble we caused over a long time. I should have visited here to apologize much earlier."

Seki, who headed the city's food-poisoning task force, said he was sorry the Osaka factory of the nation's top dairy products manufacturer was closed down because of the incident and asked Nishi to try and regain public trust.

Later in the day, Nishi told reporters, "We are planning to establish a food sanitation research institute within the company in March." Nishi said external researchers are also expected to participate in the institute to ensure product safety.

Health authorities concluded Dec. 20 that bacterial toxin in powdered skim milk produced at Snow Brand's Taiki factory in Hokkaido was the cause of the widespread food-poisoning outbreak.

Snow Brand closed its Osaka factory, where low-fat milk and two kinds of yogurt drink were produced using skim milk from the Taiki factory. The Osaka plant was censured for its poor sanitary management.