Shareholders in the group would be denied the financial rewards of the painful, but necessary restructuring, he warned.

After two years of painful restructuring to lower costs, many Japanese manufacturers are emerging leaner and more competitive.

Despite this isolated success, local industry is still undergoing painful restructuring at the moment.

Such privilege may undermine labor morale, particularly in industries undergoing painful restructuring.

And it is forcing Japan's once vaunted companies to undergo painful restructuring.

Both those companies are mired in losses and only partway through painful restructurings.

"This company has not gone through the kind of painful restructuring that other technology companies have gone through."

Those companies, clutching a still-valuable franchise, may have finally appointed a new chief executive, for example, or gone through a painful restructuring.

He spoke of the need for a period of painful restructuring in order to improve the future.

The best example of this was the painful restructuring Salomon initiated last year.