JAPAN

Third International Airport Planned: A group of 130 leading Japanese companies will start preliminary research next month on the building of a third international airport, the Sankei newspaper said. The companies include Nippon Steel Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kajima Corp. and Japan Airlines, the paper said. The group will discuss sites for the airport, planned for the Tokyo area, as well as construction, management, passenger access and weather-related problems. The airport is scheduled to open at the beginning of the 21st Century and may be built on reclaimed land in the ocean.