Tokyo stocks in July felt the brunt of the shock waves that hit the New York market and the Nikkei average fell below 10,000, a level long considered solid.
Issues especially hard-hit were internationally popular firms Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. as they were unloaded by U.S. mutual funds.
It is estimated that total cancellations during the two-week plunge came to roughly $40 billion, far exceeding the $29.5 billion that flowed out of the funds after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It is also believed that some $1 billion, or 120 billion yen, of Japanese shares were converted into cash during this time.