[English Translation] August 31, 2006 NOTICE REGARDING ACQUISITION OF THE COMPANY'S OWN SHARES (Acquisition of company's shares from subsidiaries pursuant to Article 163 of the Corporate Law of Japan) The Company hereby announces that the Company adopted a resolution, at a Board of Directors' meeting held on August 31, 2006, to acquire the Company's own shares now owned by the Company's subsidiaries pursuant to the provision of Article 156 of the Corporate Law of Japan as modified by the provision of Article 163 of the same law. The details of the resolution follow. Particulars 1. Names of Subsidiaries: MSK Shoji Company, Limited, and MSK Insurance Center Company, Limited 2. Details of Acquisition: (1) Class of shares to be acquired: Shares of common stock of the Company (2) Number of shares to be acquired: 1,143,585 shares (Approximately 0.1% of all shares issued)of which MSK Shoji Company, Limited:980,500 shares MSK Insurance Center Company, Limited:163,085 shares (3) Total acquisition cost: Closing price at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the business day immediately preceding the date of acquisition, multiplied by the number of shares to be acquired (but no greater than two billion [2,000,000,000] Japanese yen). (4) Date of Acquisition: Monday, October 2, 2006 (as planned) 3. Reason for Acquisition: To acquire the Company's own shares now owned by MSK Shoji Company, Limited, and MSK Insurance Center Company, Limited, which have become subsidiaries of the Company upon the Corporate Law of Japan becoming effective on May 1, 2006. (Reference) The Company's own shares held by the Company ("treasury shares") as at July 31, 2006: (a)The number of shares issued (excluding treasury shares):1,420,514,818 shares (b)The number of treasury shares:92,670,062 shares