Aozora Bank, the reincarnation of the failed Nippon Credit Bank, kicked off operations Thursday by unveiling its new corporate logo in a high-profile ceremony.

Aozora President Hiroshi Maruyama uncovered the blue-theme logo at the Tokyo-based head office near the Bank of Japan. Aozora literally means "blue sky" in Japanese.

"Outstanding loans have been on the increase, a fact that I think reflects expectations for the new bank," Maruyama said at the ceremony.

Aozora Bank managers have pledged to press ahead with operations with special emphasis on investment banking and lending to venture businesses.

Teetering under the weight of huge loan losses, NCB was declared insolvent in December 1998 by the Financial Supervisory Agency, the predecessor of the Financial Services Agency, and placed under state control.

The nationalized bank was sold to a trilateral investment consortium led by Softbank Corp. last Sept. 1 after the government agreed to eliminate the bank's negative net worth of more than 3.2 trillion yen and recapitalized it to replenish its depleted capital base.

But the bank's fresh start under new private-sector management was soon marred by tragedy when its newly appointed president, Tadayo Honma, hanged himself Sept. 20 in a hotel room in Osaka during a business trip.

Last month, Maruyama, former chairman of Orix Credit Corp. and one of the three main investors in the privatized NCB, was named its new president effective Dec. 5, filling the vacancy left by the suicide of Honma.