Three Yomiuri Shimbun companies own shares in 12 broadcasting stations that exceed government limits imposed to secure freedom of expression and prevent media monopolies, company officials said Thursday.

The admission came after a separate stock scandal surrounding Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, which came under fire at the Upper House Committee on Financial Affairs.

The three Yomiuri companies with excessive shareholdings are: The Yomiuri Shimbun based in Tokyo; The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka; and Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications prohibits media companies from owning more than a 20-percent stake in one broadcasting station.

Yomiuri officials said they investigated the levels of shareholdings of the three companies in 24 affiliated television and 18 radio stations.

The stock limit was breached for nine TV stations and three radio stations.

Yomiuri companies plan to sell off or give away the shares that exceed the limit, sources said.

Yomiuri has already set up an independent committee headed by Noboru Matsuda, former governor of the Deposit Insurance Corp. of Japan, to investigate the shareholding case.

Hitoshi Uchiyama, president of Yomiuri Holdings, issued a statement expressing regret over a ``slip'' in stock management. He pledged to quickly fix the situation and regain trust.

But the Yomiuri group has other serious problems to deal with.

Watanabe's scandal started when Nippon Television Network Corp. (NTV) announced Nov. 5 that it has corrected its financial statements for the past five business years because shares reportedly held by Watanabe actually belonged to Yomiuri Holdings.

Yomiuri officials have explained that tax authorities have accepted the company's position on the situation.

But Yomiuri's statement was disputed by Yoshitaka Murakami, deputy commissioner of the National Tax Agency.

``I don't understand their (Yomiuri's) intention,'' Murakami said during the Upper House committee session.

Murakami said tax authorities have not endorsed Yomiuri's position in the case, as the company has implied.

``We only need to know who actually owns the shares for taxation purposes,'' he said.

Murakami was answering questions from Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) member Naoki Minezaki, who demanded Watanabe be summoned to the Diet to answer questions on the issue.(IHT/Asahi: November 13,2004)