Tokyo stocks closed lower for the fifth straight session Monday, driving the key Nikkei average down to a new 20-year closing low.
Fears over selling by corporate pension funds and U.S. corporate earnings erased early gains.
The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 64.39 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 7,752.10, its lowest close since Nov. 17, 1982, when it finished at 7,740.10.
The Nikkei hit a new 20-year closing low for the second straight session.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 6.64 points , or 0.85 percent, to close at 775.61.
Blue chips such as Fuji Photo Film and Ito-Yokado remained under selling pressure from domestic institutional investors, foreign players and hedge funds, brokers said.
"There are multiple reasons for stocks' falls," said Yutaka Miura, manager of the equity information division at Shinko Securities Co.
"Adding to worries connected with corporate pension funds' selling and the release of U.S. corporate earnings, such factors as receding hopes for government measures and geopolitical concerns are keeping investors away from Japanese stocks."
Brokers said that fears over North Korea-related issues and the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome would probably cast a shadow over the Japanese economy even after the Iraq war ends.
Although certain blue chips, such as Takeda Chemical Industries and Sony, rebounded