JAPAN FUND INC
NSAR-B, 1998-03-13
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<PAGE>      PAGE  1
000 B000000 12/31/97
000 C000000 053192
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
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000 I000000 3.0.a
000 J000000 U
001 A000000 THE JAPAN FUND, INC.
001 B000000 811-1090
001 C000000 2123266200
002 A000000 345 PARK AVENUE
002 B000000 NEW YORK
002 C000000 NY
002 D010000 10154
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008 A000001 SCUDDER KEMPER INVESTMENTS, INC.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-252
008 D010001 BOSTON
008 D020001 MA
008 D030001 02110
018  000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000   52
019 C000000 SCUDDERRRR
020 A000001 GOLDMAN SACHES & CO.
020 C000001    237
020 A000002 SBC WARBURG, INC.
020 C000002    199
020 A000003 MORGAN STANLEY & CO., INC.
020 C000003    173
020 A000004 UBS SECURITIES, LLC
020 C000004    169
020 A000005 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC.
<PAGE>      PAGE  2
020 C000005    155
020 A000006 DAIWA SECURITIES CO., LTD.
020 C000006    149
020 A000007 NOMURA SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
020 C000007    113
020 A000008 SALOMON BROTHERS, INC.
020 C000008     97
020 A000009 LEHMAN BROTHERS, INC.
020 C000009     87
020 A000010 HSBC JAMES CAPEL
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021  000000     1764
022 A000001 GOLDMAN SACHS & CO.
022 C000001     44877
022 D000001     58040
022 A000002 SBC WARBURG, INC.
022 C000002     32616
022 D000002     51316
022 A000003 MORGAN STANLEY & CO., INC.
022 C000003     31628
022 D000003     51761
022 A000004 UBS SECURITIES, LLC
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022 A000005 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC.
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022 D000005     32919
022 A000006 DAIWA SECURITIES CO., LTD.
022 C000006     37460
022 D000006     24141
022 A000007 NOMURA SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
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022 D000007     41571
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022 D000008     21345
022 A000009 LEHMAN BROTHERS, INC.
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022 A000010 HSBC JAMES CAPEL
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<PAGE>      PAGE  7
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080 B000000 NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
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SIGNATURE   THOMAS F. MCDONOUGH                          
TITLE       ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
 

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
The Japan Fund, Inc.

In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of The Japan
Fund, Inc., (hereafter referred to as the "Fund") for the year ended December
31, 1997, we considered its internal control, including control activities for
safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing procedures for the
purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with
the requirements of Form N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on internal
control.

The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining
internal control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
control activities. Generally, control activities that are relevant to an audit
pertain to the entity's objective of preparing financial statements for external
purposes that are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles. Those control activi ties include the safeguarding of
assets against unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition.

Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or irregularities
may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of internal
control to future periods is subject to the risk that it may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and
operation may deteriorate.

Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily disclose all matters
in internal control that might be material weaknesses under standards
established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A
material weakness is a condition in which the design or operation of any
specific internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low level
the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements being audited may occ ur and not be
detected within a timely period by employees in the normal course of performing
their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving internal
control, including control activities for safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of December 31, 1997.

This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the
Board of  Directors  of The Japan Fund,  Inc.  and the  Securities  and Exchange
Commission.

/s/Price Waterhouse LLP
Price Waterhouse LLP
February 12, 1998

<TABLE> <S> <C>

<ARTICLE>6
<LEGEND>
This schedule contains summary financial information extracted from 
The Japan Fund, Inc. Annual Report for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 1997 and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such
financial statements.
</LEGEND>
<SERIES>
<NUMBER>0
<NAME> The Japan Fund, Inc.
       
<S>                                                      <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE>                                            YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END>                                           DEC-31-1997
<PERIOD-START>                                              JAN-01-1997
<PERIOD-END>                                                DEC-31-1997
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST>                                       354,003,475
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE>                                      266,886,490
<RECEIVABLES>                                                 6,206,514
<ASSETS-OTHER>                                                  210,679
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS>                                                  0
<TOTAL-ASSETS>                                              273,303,683
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES>                                              0
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT>                                               0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES>                                     8,121,752
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES>                                           8,121,752
<SENIOR-EQUITY>                                                       0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON>                                    394,633,055
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK>                                        39,174,523
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR>                                        46,358,011
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT>                                     2,596,688
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII>                                                0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS>                                     (44,950,757)
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS>                                              0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC>                                    (87,097,055)
<NET-ASSETS>                                                265,181,931
<DIVIDEND-INCOME>                                             2,031,290
<INTEREST-INCOME>                                             1,170,869
<OTHER-INCOME>                                                        0
<EXPENSES-NET>                                                4,661,229
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME>                                      (1,459,070)
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT>                                     21,214,707
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT>                                   (56,888,094)
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS>                                       (37,132,457)
<EQUALIZATION>                                                        0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME>                                   (14,966,112)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS>                                              0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER>                                                 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD>                                      43,064,968
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED>                                 (52,054,019)
<SHARES-REINVESTED>                                           1,805,563
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS>                                     (120,782,031)
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR>                                      (9,942,905)
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR>                                   (37,203,728)
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR>                                               0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR>                                            0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES>                                         2,949,980
<INTEREST-EXPENSE>                                                1,191
<GROSS-EXPENSE>                                               4,661,229
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS>                                        384,792,280
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN>                                              8.33
<PER-SHARE-NII>                                                   (0.03)
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC>                                           (1.16)
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND>                                               0.00
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS>                                         (0.37)
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL>                                               0.00
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END>                                                6.77
<EXPENSE-RATIO>                                                    1.21
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING>                                                0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE>                                                  0
        



</TABLE>

                              THE JAPAN FUND, INC.
                           STOCKHOLDER MEETING RESULTS

A Special Meeting of  Stockholders  (the "Meeting") of The Japan Fund, Inc. (the
"Fund")  was  held on  October  16,  1997,  at the  offices  of  Scudder  Kemper
Investments,  Inc. (formerly Scudder,  Stevens & Clark, Inc.), Two International
Place,  Boston,  MA 02110.  At the Meeting,  as adjourned  and  reconvened,  the
following  matters were voted upon by the stockholders  (the resulting votes for
each  matter are  presented  below).  With regard to certain  proposals,  it was
recommended that the Meeting be reconvened in order to provide stockholders with
an additional  opportunity to return their  proxies.  The date of the reconvened
meeting at which the matters were decided is noted after the proposed matter.

1.   To approve the new  Investment  Management  Agreement  between the Fund and
     Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.

                                     Number of Votes:
                                     ----------------

        For                 Against            Abstain        Broker Non-Votes*
        ---                 -------            -------        -----------------
     23,348,850            1,636,844           739,489              82,554


2.    To elect Directors.


                                                       Number of Votes:
                                                       ----------------

                   Director                      For                 Withheld
                   --------                      ---                 --------

      William L. Givens                       24,023,641            1,784,096

      William H. Gleysteen, Jr.               24,094,511            1,713,226

      John F. Loughran                        24,135,004            1,672,733

      Yoshihiko Miyauchi                      24,097,287            1,710,450

      William V. Rapp                         24,168,116            1,639,621

      Henry Rosovsky                          24,109,905            1,697,832

      O. Robert Theurkauf                     24,169,124            1,638,613

      Hiroshi Yamanaka                        24,011,364            1,796,373


3.    To approve the Board's  discretionary  authority  to convert the Fund to a
      master/feeder  fund  structure  through  a sale or  transfer  of assets or
      otherwise. (Approved on December 2, 1997.)


                                 Number of Votes:
                                 ----------------

          For              Against            Abstain         Broker Non-Votes*
          ---              -------            -------         -----------------
       24,135,077         3,305,664          1,494,670              13,298


                                       25
<PAGE>

4. To approve the revision of certain fundamental investment policies.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>

                                                                        Number of Votes:
                                                                        ----------------
                                                                                                         Broker
            Fundamental Policies                    For             Against          Abstain           Non-Votes*
            --------------------                    ---             -------          -------           ---------
                                                                                                     
       <S>                                      <C>                <C>              <C>               <C>      
       4.1  Diversification                     20,203,566         2,504,659        1,221,053         1,878,459

       4.2  Borrowing                           19,991,302         2,715,590        1,222,386         1,878,459

       4.3  Senior securities                   20,104,543         2,595,333        1,229,402         1,878,459

       4.4  Concentration                       20,126,367         2,574,688        1,228,223         1,878,459

       4.5  Underwriting of securities          20,167,474         2,523,879        1,237,925         1,878,459

       4.6  Investment in real estate           20,144,018         2,237,256        1,548,004         1,878,459

       4.7  Purchase of physical commodities    19,814,687         2,275,636        1,838,955         1,878,459

       4.8  Lending                             19,851,510         2,273,475        1,804,293         1,878,459

</TABLE>


5.   To  ratify  the  selection  of  Price  Waterhouse   L.L.P.  as  the  Fund's
     independent accountants.



                               Number of Votes:
                               ----------------

          For                      Against                    Abstain
          ---                      -------                    -------
       23,662,444                  739,385                   1,405,908



* Broker  non-votes  are proxies  received by the Fund from  brokers or nominees
  when  the  broker  or  nominee  neither  has  received  instructions  from the
  beneficial owner or other persons entitled to vote nor has discretionary power
  to vote on a particular matter.

                                       26


                              The Japan Fund, Inc.
                                 345 Park Avenue
                            New York, New York 10154
                                                               December 31, 1997

Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.
345 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10154

                         Investment Management Agreement

Ladies and Gentlemen:

      The Japan Fund, Inc. (the "Corporation") has been established as a
Maryland corporation to engage in the business of an investment company.
Pursuant to the Corporation's Articles of Incorporation, as amended from
time-to-time (the "Articles"), the Board of Directors may divide the
Corporation's shares of capital stock, par value $.33 1/3 per share, (the
"Shares") into separate series, or funds. Series may be abolished and dissolved,
and additional series established, from time to time by action of the Directors.

      The Corporation, on behalf of the Fund, has selected you to act as the
sole investment manager of the Fund and to provide certain other services, as
more fully set forth below, and you have indicated that you are willing to act
as such investment manager and to perform such services under the terms and
conditions hereinafter set forth. Accordingly, the Corporation on behalf of the
Fund agrees with you as follows:

      1. Delivery of Documents. The Corporation engages in the business of
investing and reinvesting the assets of the Fund in the manner and in accordance
with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions specified in the
currently effective Prospectus (the "Prospectus") and Statement of Additional
Information (the "SAI") relating to the Fund included in the Corporation's
Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as amended from time to time, (the
"Registration Statement") filed by the Corporation under the Investment Company
Act of 1940, as amended, (the "1940 Act") and the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended. Copies of the documents referred to in the preceding sentence have been
furnished to you by the Corporation. The Corporation has also furnished you with
copies properly certified or authenticated of each of the following additional
documents related to the Corporation and the Fund:

(a)   The Articles dated January 10, 1992, as amended to date.

(b)   By-Laws of the Corporation as in effect on the date hereof (the
      "By-Laws").

(c)   Resolutions of the Directors of the Corporation and the shareholders of
      the Fund selecting you as investment manager and approving the form of
      this Agreement.

      The Corporation will furnish you from time to time with copies, properly
certified or authenticated, of all amendments of or supplements, if any, to the
foregoing, including the Prospectus, the SAI and the Registration Statement.
<PAGE>

      2. Portfolio Management Services. As manager of the assets of the Fund,
you shall provide continuing investment management of the assets of the Fund in
accordance with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions set forth
in the Prospectus and SAI; the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act and the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (the "Code") relating to regulated
investment companies and all rules and regulations thereunder; and all other
applicable federal and state laws and regulations of which you have knowledge;
subject always to policies and instructions adopted by the Corporation's Board
of Directors. In connection therewith, you shall use reasonable efforts to
manage the Fund so that it will qualify as a regulated investment company under
Subchapter M of the Code and regulations issued thereunder. The Fund shall have
the benefit of the investment analysis and research, the review of current
economic conditions and trends and the consideration of long-range investment
policy generally available to your investment advisory clients. In managing the
Fund in accordance with the requirements set forth in this section 2, you shall
be entitled to receive and act upon advice of counsel to the Corporation or
counsel to you. You shall also make available to the Corporation promptly upon
request all of the Fund's investment records and ledgers as are necessary to
assist the Corporation in complying with the requirements of the 1940 Act and
other applicable laws. To the extent required by law, you shall furnish to
regulatory authorities having the requisite authority any information or reports
in connection with the services provided pursuant to this Agreement which may be
requested in order to ascertain whether the operations of the Corporation are
being conducted in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

      You shall determine the securities, instruments, investments, currencies,
repurchase agreements, futures, options and other contracts relating to
investments to be purchased, sold or entered into by the Fund and place orders
with broker-dealers, foreign currency dealers, futures commission merchants or
others pursuant to your determinations and all in accordance with Fund policies
as expressed in the Registration Statement. You shall determine what portion of
the Fund's portfolio shall be invested in securities and other assets and what
portion, if any, should be held uninvested.

      You shall furnish to the Corporation's Board of Directors periodic reports
on the investment performance of the Fund and on the performance of your
obligations pursuant to this Agreement, and you shall supply such additional
reports and information as the Corporation's officers or Board of Directors
shall reasonably request.

      3. Administrative Services. In addition to the portfolio management
services specified above in section 2, you shall furnish at your expense for the
use of the Fund such office space and facilities in the United States as the
Fund may require for its reasonable needs, and you (or one or more of your
affiliates designated by you) shall render to the Corporation administrative
services on behalf of the Fund necessary for operating as an open-end investment
company and not provided by persons not parties to this Agreement including, but
not limited to, preparing reports to and meeting materials for the Corporation's
Board of Directors and reports and notices to Fund shareholders; supervising,
negotiating contractual arrangements with, to the extent appropriate, and
monitoring the performance of, accounting agents, custodians, depositories,
transfer agents and pricing agents, accountants, attorneys, printers,
underwriters, brokers and dealers, insurers and other persons in any capacity
deemed to be necessary or desirable to Fund operations; preparing and making
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and other
regulatory and self-regulatory organizations, including, but not limited to,
preliminary and definitive proxy materials, post-effective amendments to the
Registration Statement, semi-annual reports on Form N-SAR and notices pursuant
to Rule 24f-2 under the 1940 Act; overseeing the tabulation of proxies by the
Fund's transfer agent; assisting in the preparation and filing of the Fund's
federal, state and local tax 


                                       2
<PAGE>

returns; preparing and filing the Fund's federal excise tax return pursuant to
Section 4982 of the Code; providing assistance with investor and public
relations matters; monitoring the valuation of portfolio securities and the
calculation of net asset value; monitoring the registration of Shares of the
Fund under applicable federal and state securities laws; maintaining or causing
to be maintained for the Fund all books, records and reports and any other
information required under the 1940 Act, to the extent that such books, records
and reports and other information are not maintained by the Fund's custodian or
other agents of the Fund; assisting in establishing the accounting policies of
the Fund; assisting in the resolution of accounting issues that may arise with
respect to the Fund's operations and consulting with the Fund's independent
accountants, legal counsel and the Fund's other agents as necessary in
connection therewith; establishing and monitoring the Fund's operating expense
budgets; reviewing the Fund's bills; processing the payment of bills that have
been approved by an authorized person; assisting the Fund in determining the
amount of dividends and distributions available to be paid by the Fund to its
shareholders, preparing and arranging for the printing of dividend notices to
shareholders, and providing the transfer and dividend paying agent, the
custodian, and the accounting agent with such information as is required for
such parties to effect the payment of dividends and distributions; and otherwise
assisting the Corporation as it may reasonably request in the conduct of the
Fund's business, subject to the direction and control of the Corporation's Board
of Directors. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to shift to you or to
diminish the obligations of any agent of the Fund or any other person not a
party to this Agreement which is obligated to provide services to the Fund.

      4. Allocation of Charges and Expenses. Except as otherwise specifically
provided in this section 4, you shall pay the compensation and expenses of all
Directors, officers and executive employees of the Corporation (including the
Fund's share of payroll taxes) who are affiliated persons of you, and you shall
make available, without expense to the Fund, the services of such of your
directors, officers and employees as may duly be elected officers of the
Corporation, subject to their individual consent to serve and to any limitations
imposed by law. You shall provide at your expense the portfolio management
services described in section 2 hereof and the administrative services described
in section 3 hereof.

      You shall not be required to pay any expenses of the Fund other than those
specifically allocated to you in this section 4. In particular, but without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, you shall not be responsible, except
to the extent of the reasonable compensation of such of the Fund's Directors and
officers as are directors, officers or employees of you whose services may be
involved, for the following expenses of the Fund: organization expenses of the
Fund (including out-of-pocket expenses, but not including your overhead or
employee costs); fees payable to you and to any other Fund advisors or
consultants; legal expenses; auditing and accounting expenses; maintenance of
books and records which are required to be maintained by the Fund's custodian or
other agents of the Corporation; telephone, telex, facsimile, postage and other
communications expenses; taxes and governmental fees; fees, dues and expenses
incurred by the Fund in connection with membership in investment company trade
organizations; fees and expenses of the Fund's accounting agent, custodians,
subcustodians, transfer agents, dividend disbursing agents and registrars;
payment for portfolio pricing or valuation services to pricing agents,
accountants, bankers and other specialists, if any; expenses of preparing share
certificates and, except as provided below in this section 4, other expenses in
connection with the issuance, offering, distribution, sale, redemption or
repurchase of securities issued by the Fund; expenses relating to investor and
public relations; expenses and fees of registering or qualifying Shares of the
Fund for sale; interest charges, bond premiums and other insurance expense;
freight, insurance and other charges in connection with the shipment of the
Fund's portfolio securities; the compensation and all expenses (specifically
including travel expenses relating to Corporation business) of Directors,
officers and employees of the Corporation who are not affiliated persons of you;
brokerage commissions or other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio
securities of the Fund; expenses of printing and distributing reports, notices
and dividends to shareholders; expenses of printing and mailing Prospectuses and
SAIs of the Fund and supplements thereto; 


                                       3
<PAGE>

costs of stationery; any litigation expenses; indemnification of Directors and
officers of the Corporation; costs of shareholders' and other meetings; and
travel expenses (or an appropriate portion thereof) of Directors and officers of
the Corporation who are directors, officers or employees of you to the extent
that such expenses relate to attendance at meetings of the Board of Directors of
the Corporation or any committees thereof or advisors thereto held outside of
Boston, Massachusetts or New York, New York.

      You shall not be required to pay expenses of any activity which is
primarily intended to result in sales of Shares of the Fund if and to the extent
that (i) such expenses are required to be borne by a principal underwriter which
acts as the distributor of the Fund's Shares pursuant to an underwriting
agreement which provides that the underwriter shall assume some or all of such
expenses, or (ii) the Corporation on behalf of the Fund shall have adopted a
plan in conformity with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act providing that the Fund
(or some other party) shall assume some or all of such expenses. You shall be
required to pay such of the foregoing sales expenses as are not required to be
paid by the principal underwriter pursuant to the underwriting agreement or are
not permitted to be paid by the Fund (or some other party) pursuant to such a
plan.

      5. Management Fee. For all services to be rendered, payments to be made
and costs to be assumed by you as provided in sections 2, 3 and 4 hereof, the
Corporation on behalf of the Fund shall pay you in United States Dollars on the
last day of each month the unpaid balance of a fee equal to the excess of 1/12
of 0.85 of 1 percent of the average daily net assets as defined below of the
Fund for such month; provided that, for any calendar month during which the
average of such values exceeds $100 million, the fee payable for that month
based on the portion of the average of such values in excess of $100 million
shall be 1/12 of 0.75 of 1 percent of such portion; and provided that, for any
calendar month during which the average of such values exceeds $300 million, the
fee payable for that month based on the portion of the average of such values in
excess of $300 million shall be 1/12 of 0.70 of 1 percent of such portion; and
provided that, for any calendar month during which the average of such values
exceeds $600 million, the fee payable for that month based on the portion of the
average of such values in excess of $600 million shall be 1/12 of 0.65 of 1
percent of such portion over any compensation waived by you from time to time
(as more fully described below). You shall be entitled to receive during any
month such interim payments of your fee hereunder as you shall request, provided
that no such payment shall exceed 75 percent of the amount of your fee then
accrued on the books of the Fund and unpaid.

      The "average daily net assets" of the Fund shall mean the average of the
values placed on the Fund's net assets as of 4:00 p.m. (New York time) on each
day on which the net asset value of the Fund is determined consistent with the
provisions of Rule 22c-1 under the 1940 Act or, if the Fund lawfully determines
the value of its net assets as of some other time on each business day, as of
such time. The value of the net assets of the Fund shall always be determined
pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Articles and the Registration
Statement. If the determination of net asset value does not take place for any
particular day, then for the purposes of this section 5, the value of the net
assets of the Fund as last determined shall be deemed to be the value of its net
assets as of 4:00 p.m. (New York time), or as of such other time as the value of
the net assets of the Fund's portfolio may be lawfully determined on that day.
If the Fund determines the value of the net assets of its portfolio more than
once on any day, then the last such determination thereof on that day shall be
deemed to be the sole determination thereof on that day for the purposes of this
section 5.

      You may waive all or a portion of your fees provided for hereunder and
such waiver shall be treated as a reduction in purchase price of your services.
You shall be contractually bound hereunder by the 


                                       4
<PAGE>

terms of any publicly announced waiver of your fee, or any limitation of the
Fund's expenses, as if such waiver or limitation were fully set forth herein.

      6. Avoidance of Inconsistent Position; Services Not Exclusive. In
connection with purchases or sales of portfolio securities and other investments
for the account of the Fund, neither you nor any of your directors, officers or
employees shall act as a principal or agent or receive any commission. You or
your agent shall arrange for the placing of all orders for the purchase and sale
of portfolio securities and other investments for the Fund's account with
brokers or dealers selected by you in accordance with Fund policies as expressed
in the Registration Statement. If any occasion should arise in which you give
any advice to clients of yours concerning the Shares of the Fund, you shall act
solely as investment counsel for such clients and not in any way on behalf of
the Fund.

      Your services to the Fund pursuant to this Agreement are not to be deemed
to be exclusive and it is understood that you may render investment advice,
management and services to others. In acting under this Agreement, you shall be
an independent contractor and not an agent of the Corporation.

      Whenever the Fund and one or more other accounts or investment companies
advised by the Manager have available funds for investment, investments suitable
and appropriate for each shall be allocated in accordance with procedures
believed by the Manager to be equitable to each entity. Similarly, opportunities
to sell securities shall be allocated in a manner believed by the Manager to be
equitable. The Fund recognizes that in some cases this procedure may adversely
affect the size of the position that may be acquired or disposed of for the
Fund.

      7. Limitation of Liability of Manager. As an inducement to your
undertaking to render services pursuant to this Agreement, the Corporation
agrees that you shall not be liable under this Agreement for any error of
judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Fund in connection
with the matters to which this Agreement relates, provided that nothing in this
Agreement shall be deemed to protect or purport to protect you against any
liability to the Corporation, the Fund or its shareholders to which you would
otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross
negligence in the performance of your duties, or by reason of your reckless
disregard of your obligations and duties hereunder. Any person, even though also
employed by you, who may be or become an employee of and paid by the Fund shall
be deemed, when acting within the scope of his or her employment by the Fund, to
be acting in such employment solely for the Fund and not as your employee or
agent.

      8. Duration and Termination of This Agreement. This Agreement shall remain
in force until October 31, 1998, and continue in force from year to year
thereafter, but only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at
least annually (a) by the vote of a majority of the Directors who are not
parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any party to this Agreement,
cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval,
and (b) by the Directors of the Corporation, or by the vote of a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The aforesaid requirement that
continuance of this Agreement be "specifically approved at least annually" shall
be construed in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder and any applicable SEC exemptive order therefrom.

      This Agreement may be terminated with respect to the Fund at any time,
without the payment of any penalty, by the vote of a majority of the outstanding
voting securities of the Fund or by the 


                                       5
<PAGE>

Corporation's Board of Directors on 60 days' written notice to you, or by you on
60 days' written notice to the Corporation. This Agreement shall terminate
automatically in the event of its assignment.

      9. Amendment of this Agreement. No provision of this Agreement may be
changed, waived, discharged or terminated orally, but only by an instrument in
writing signed by the party against whom enforcement of the change, waiver,
discharge or termination is sought, and no amendment of this Agreement shall be
effective until approved in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act and rules and
regulations thereunder and any applicable SEC exemptive order therefrom.

      10. Miscellaneous. The captions in this Agreement are included for
convenience of reference only and in no way define or limit any of the
provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect. This
Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, each of
which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute
one and the same instrument.

      In interpreting the provisions of this Agreement, the definitions
contained in Section 2(a) of the 1940 Act (particularly the definitions of
"affiliated person," "assignment" and "majority of the outstanding voting
securities"), as from time to time amended, shall be applied, subject, however,
to such exemptions as may be granted by the SEC by any rule, regulation or
order.

      This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State
of Maryland, provided that nothing herein shall be construed in a manner
inconsistent with the 1940 Act, or in a manner which would cause the Fund to
fail to comply with the requirements of Subchapter M of the Code.

      This Agreement shall supersede all prior investment advisory or management
agreements entered into between you and the Corporation on behalf of the Fund.


                                       6
<PAGE>

      If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please execute the form of
acceptance on the accompanying counterpart of this letter and return such
counterpart to the Corporation, whereupon this letter shall become a binding
contract effective as of the date of this Agreement.

                                          Yours very truly,

                                          THE JAPAN FUND, INC


                                          By: ______________________________
                                                President

      The foregoing Agreement is hereby accepted as of the date hereof.

                                          SCUDDER KEMPER INVESTMENTS, INC.


                                          By: ______________________________
                                                Managing Director


                                       7


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