ask the company to buy the entire print at inflated prices, or even to subscribe to these newspapers, generating a steady flow of cash. Preventing disruption of shareholder meetings have also been used by companies to drown out questions from legitimate shareholders which company officials do not want presented. One infamous case is related to Minamata disease (mercury poisoning), where the Chisso chemicals company managed to close a number of annual meetings within minutes, despite the presence of hundreds of protesters at the meetings. They have also been active against anti-war protesters and other people who may be viewed as a nuisance by the company at a particular time. Countermeasures Article 968 of the Japanese corporations code prohibits activity, imposing imprisonment of no more than five years or a fine of no more than ¥5 million for "receiving, demanding or promising a proprietary benefit with regard to" statements or the exercise of voting rights at a shareholder or creditor meeting. A practical countermeasure used by large corporations is to hold all shareholder meetings on the same day, so cannot disrupt all of them. Background While in the West a shareholders' meeting is usually an earnest discussion between the shareholders and the management, in Japan it is often more of a ceremony, and the management does not feel the need to truly inform shareholders. In this atmosphere, the are able to prosper. However, with the trend for more deregulation in the Japanese market the business environment for is getting more and more difficult. Companies that have bribed Major companies that have been found guilty of employing include but are not limited to: Mitsubishi, resulting in a number of arrests Daiwa Securities Group Nikko Securities Nomura Securities Co., with three top executive pleading guilty for multimillion-dollar payments. In this case, the sōkaiya actually owned enough stock to propose one of their choosing as a member for the board of directors. Nippon Shinpan, forcing the president Yoji Yamada into retirement after various executives paid up to ¥80 million to the subsequently arrested Kikuo Kondo of the Sumiyoshi-kai. The Tokyo Electric Power Company Meiji Seika References Further reading Baldwin, Frank, "Sōkaiya, the Idiom of Contemporary Japan", Japan Interpreter, 8, Winter 1974 Ogino, Hiroshi, "The Sōkaiya's Grip on Corporate Japan", JQ, July–September, 1997 Szymkowiak, Kenneth, "Sōkaiya Criminal Group and the Conflict for Corporate Power in Postwar Japan", Asia Profile, Vol. 20, No. 4, August, 1992