Nasdaq Japan Inc said it would start accepting applications for listing next Monday and that trading on the market, installed in the Osaka Securities Exchange, would begin on June 14 with about 10 companies on the board.Nasdaq Japan President Tatsuyuki Saeki said last month that the number of listed firms would be increased to 50 by the end of 2000 and to 100 in a year's time.

The Nasdaq Japan market is a joint venture between National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which runs Nasdaq in the United States, and Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp. The new market aimed to break the stranglehold enjoyed by the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) over Japanese share markets, Saeki said. But the TSE has hit back, creating last November its "Mothers" board for start-up firms seeking equity backing.