ABSTRACT
Japan 's economy faced a serious situation as the result of a rece ssion after 1990 and a strong yen . A slowdown in processing indu stries with assembly plants (such as the automobile and electric appliance industries) and expanding imports reduced domestic demand for iron and steel (Tables 20 .1 and 20.2). The steel makers with blast furnaces fell deep into the red in the 1993 accounting year. In order to recover international cornpetitiveness, they carried out further restructuring, which, this time, involved not only producing departments but also the administrative departments of head offices.
