United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, DC 20549
Investment Company Act file number 811-06142
THE JAPAN EQUITY FUND, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
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c/o Daiwa Securities Trust Company |
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One Evertrust Plaza |
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Jersey City, New Jersey 07302 |
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code) |
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John J. O’Keefe |
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The Japan Equity Fund, Inc. |
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c/o Daiwa Securities Trust Company |
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One Evertrust Plaza |
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Jersey City, New Jersey 07302 |
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(Name and address of agent for service) |
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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (201) 915-3054 |
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Date of fiscal year end: October 31, 2004 |
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Date of reporting period: July 31, 2004 |
The Japan Equity Fund, Inc.
Portfolio of Investments
July 31, 2004 (unaudited)
COMMON STOCKS—97.61%
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Shares |
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Value |
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Banks—6.95% |
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347 |
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Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. |
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3,104,999 |
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610 |
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Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. |
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2,310,357 |
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150,000 |
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The Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. |
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877,760 |
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6,293,116 |
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Chemicals—6.84% |
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196,000 |
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Asahi Organic Chemicals Industry Co., Ltd. |
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552,360 |
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275,000 |
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Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha |
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895,934 |
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4,000 |
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Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. |
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119,907 |
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80,500 |
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Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. |
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1,155,986 |
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54,000 |
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Kao Corp. |
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1,337,641 |
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28,000 |
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Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. |
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949,919 |
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200,000 |
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Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. |
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822,115 |
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100,000 |
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Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
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354,514 |
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6,188,376 |
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Communication—7.52% |
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240 |
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KDDI Corp. |
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1,225,633 |
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280 |
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NTT Corp. |
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1,394,723 |
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1,480 |
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NTT DoCoMo, Inc. |
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2,576,916 |
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56,000 |
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Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc. |
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953,940 |
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16,000 |
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Trend Micro Inc. |
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654,820 |
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6,806,032 |
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Construction—0.96% |
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27,000 |
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Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. |
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280,614 |
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135,000 |
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Maeda Corp. |
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585,218 |
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865,832 |
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Electric Appliances—13.48% |
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32,000 |
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Canon Inc. |
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1,562,377 |
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178,000 |
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Fujitsu Ltd. |
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1,102,316 |
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130,000 |
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Hitachi Ltd. |
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793,394 |
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39,000 |
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Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
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309,424 |
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6,200 |
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Kyocera Corp. |
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478,550 |
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13,000 |
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Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. |
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918,237 |
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148,000 |
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Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. |
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1,971,208 |
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15,200 |
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NEC Electronics Corp. |
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785,784 |
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10,000 |
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Rohm Co., Ltd. |
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1,069,826 |
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38,000 |
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Sharp Corp. |
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548,752 |
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13,000 |
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Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. |
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198,115 |
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500 |
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Sumida Corp. |
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13,822 |
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7,500 |
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TDK Corp. |
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518,309 |
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10,100 |
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Tokyo Electron Ltd. |
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494,032 |
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123,000 |
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Yokogawa Electric Corp. |
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1,435,110 |
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12,199,256 |
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Electric Power & Gas—3.07% |
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60,000 |
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Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. |
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985,460 |
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79,000 |
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Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. |
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1,790,298 |
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2,775,758 |
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Foods—2.63% |
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126,000 |
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Asahi Breweries, Ltd. |
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1,338,934 |
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88,000 |
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Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. |
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1,040,962 |
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2,379,896 |
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1
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Glass & Ceramic Products—1.39% |
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45,000 |
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NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. |
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439,015 |
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218,000 |
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Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. |
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817,842 |
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1,256,857 |
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Insurance—2.14% |
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192,000 |
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Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co., Ltd. |
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1,006,354 |
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20,000 |
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T&D Holdings Inc. |
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928,020 |
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1,934,374 |
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Iron & Steel—1.08% |
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240,000 |
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Kobe Steel, Ltd. |
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331,718 |
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224,000 |
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Nippon Steel Corp. |
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454,353 |
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180,000 |
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Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. |
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193,861 |
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979,932 |
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Land Transportation—2.35% |
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250 |
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East Japan Railway Co. |
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1,361,964 |
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145,000 |
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Nippon Express Co., Ltd. |
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766,514 |
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2,128,478 |
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Machinery—4.47% |
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206,000 |
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NSK Ltd. |
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918,883 |
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78,000 |
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Ricoh Co., Ltd. |
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1,519,117 |
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9,800 |
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SMC Corp. |
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958,715 |
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40,200 |
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THK Co., Ltd. |
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646,548 |
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4,043,263 |
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Marine Transportation—1.11% |
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220,000 |
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Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha |
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1,008,975 |
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Non-Ferrous Metals—2.33% |
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139,000 |
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Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. |
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566,379 |
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162,000 |
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Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. |
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1,541,195 |
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2,107,574 |
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Other Financing Business—1.90% |
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47,000 |
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Hitachi Capital Corp. |
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802,316 |
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8,500 |
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Orix Corp. |
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918,507 |
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1,720,823 |
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Other Products—2.20% |
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9,100 |
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Nintendo Co., Ltd. |
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1,012,745 |
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75,000 |
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Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. |
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749,865 |
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15,000 |
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Yamaha Corp. |
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227,518 |
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1,990,128 |
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Pharmaceutical—4.46% |
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33,300 |
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Eisai Co., Ltd. |
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977,302 |
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40,000 |
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Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. |
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1,870,400 |
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36,000 |
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Tanabe Seiyaku Co., Ltd. |
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298,546 |
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26,000 |
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Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. |
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891,402 |
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4,037,650 |
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Precision Instruments—1.07% |
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40,000 |
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Terumo Corp. |
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969,305 |
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Pulp & Paper—0.88% |
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162 |
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Nippon Unipac Holding |
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795,315 |
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Real Estate—0.98% |
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80,000 |
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Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. |
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888,889 |
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2
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Retail Trade—5.39% |
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50,900 |
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EDION Corp. |
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579,717 |
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13,300 |
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Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. |
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937,040 |
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55,000 |
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Isetan Co., Ltd. |
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629,375 |
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45,000 |
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Marui Co., Ltd. |
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543,215 |
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37,000 |
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Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. |
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1,135,703 |
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20,000 |
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Sundrug Co., Ltd. |
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1,050,081 |
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4,875,131 |
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Rubber Products—1.63% |
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24,000 |
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Bridgestone Corp. |
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432,956 |
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270,000 |
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Yokahama Rubber Co., Ltd. |
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1,046,850 |
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1,479,806 |
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Securities—3.28% |
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270,000 |
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Nikko Cordial Corp. |
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1,223,748 |
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127,000 |
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Nomura Holdings Inc. |
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1,741,662 |
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2,965,410 |
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Services—1.72% |
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24,500 |
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H.I.S. Co., Ltd. |
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690,451 |
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3,000 |
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Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. |
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280,291 |
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14,500 |
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Secom Co., Ltd. |
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585,622 |
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1,556,364 |
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Textile & Apparel—1.79% |
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225,000 |
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Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. |
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783,522 |
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240,000 |
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Teijin Ltd. |
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833,603 |
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1,617,125 |
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Transportation Equipment—12.60% |
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36,000 |
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Denso Corp. |
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882,068 |
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55,000 |
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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. |
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2,675,462 |
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360,000 |
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Isuzu Motors Ltd. |
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907,916 |
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182,000 |
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Mazda Motor Corp. |
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623,981 |
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43,000 |
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Showa Corp. |
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508,266 |
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65,000 |
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Tokai Rika Co., Ltd. |
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1,019,162 |
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119,000 |
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Toyota Motor Corp. |
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4,784,778 |
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11,401,633 |
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Wholesale Trade—3.39% |
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15,000 |
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Autobacs Seven Co., Ltd. |
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471,190 |
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129,000 |
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Mitsui & Co., Ltd. |
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966,747 |
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332 |
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Net One Systems Co., Ltd. |
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1,075,678 |
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214 |
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NIWS Co., Ltd. |
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551,230 |
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3,064,845 |
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Total Common Stocks (Cost—$82,250,204) |
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88,330,143 |
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SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS—0.09%
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Principal |
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Value |
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U.S. DOLLAR TIME DEPOSIT—0.09% |
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82 |
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Bank
of New York Time Deposit, 0.05%, due 8/2/04 |
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81,692 |
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Total Investments—97.70% |
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88,411,835 |
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Other assets less liabilities—2.30% |
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2,078,427 |
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NET ASSETS |
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(Applicable to 14,420,917 shares of capital stock |
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100.00 |
% |
$ |
90,490,262 |
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3
Item 1. Schedule of Investments. – The schedule of investments for the three-month period ended July 31, 2004 is filed herewith.
Item 2. Controls and Procedures
a) The Registrant’s Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer concluded that the Registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) were effective as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this report (the “Evaluation Date”), based on their evaluation of the effectiveness of the Registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures as of the Evaluation Date.
b) There were no changes in the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the Registrant’s last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
Item 3. Exhibits.
(a) Certification of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of the Registrant as required by Rule 30-a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30a-2(a)) is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.302CERT.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
The Japan Equity Fund, Inc.
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By |
\s\John J. O’Keefe |
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John J. O’Keefe, Vice President & Treasurer |
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Date: September 17, 2004
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
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By |
\s\John J. O’Keefe |
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Date: September 17, 2004 |
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John J. O’Keefe, Vice President & Treasurer |
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\s\ Hiroshi Kimura |
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Date: September 17, 2004 |
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Hiroshi Kimura, Chairman |
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