Japanese Contractor Files for Protection

Tokyo-based Tokai Kogyo Co. said it filed for court protection from its creditors after abandoning a plan to rebuild its failing business--the second-biggest postwar failure in Japan’s troubled construction sector. It was the second major failure by a Japanese general contractor in the last four years. Tokai said it was burdened with debts of $4.52 billion. It also tops the list of Japanese builders that have guaranteed huge loans that may not be recoverable. Tokai’s shares were suspended by the Tokyo stock market and are due to be delisted on Oct. 5. Japan’s construction firms have been struggling to recover from the collapse of Japan’s 1980s “bubble” of sky-high asset prices.