Reports released June 13 on financial deregulation should only be seen as the start, rather than the culmination, of the government's efforts to ignite a "Big Bang" in the domestic financial market.

Most observers agree with the perception that Japan's financial sector is in dire straits, and that rapid deregulation is needed for Tokyo to remain a key market on the international scene. But months of debate by advisory councils to the finance minister have only produced documents that many scholars and analysts say outline the amount of work remaining to be done to raise the mentality of the nation's financial industry to international levels.

"Although Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's Big Bang instructions (in November) called for reforms that will benefit the consumer, the reports remain focused on how to adjust the demands of the various players in the financial industry, and I could not see any real attention being placed on users' needs," said Toru Nakakita, economics professor at Toyo University. He said the reports were drawn up following the usual pattern of trying to please all parties concerned with a series of compromises and give-and-takes.