August 27, 2004On August 27, 2004, Rakuten, Inc. announced the new issuance of stock options as voted upon and agreed to at an extraordinary Board of Directors meeting on February 19th, 2004. A resolution to approve the new issuance of stock options was put forth for a vote at the 7th Annual General Shareholders Meeting on March 30, 2004 and, the resolution was passed. The stock options will be registered on September 7, 2004. The total number of stock options issued is 3,573. Each stock option represents one common share. These stock options may be exercised from March 31, 2008 to March 29, 2014 subject to company regulations and policies. The intended beneficiaries, five hundred and twelve individuals, of the stock options are our company's Board Directors, corporate auditors, employees and subsidiary company employees and their respective Board Directors. (For full release, please refer to Japanese IR release.)