44 CREATIONS NOMINATED FOR 21ST TOKYO VIDEO FESTIVAL AWARDS Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) announced today that 44 video creations have been nominated for awards by the judging committee of the 21st TokyoVideo Festival. The festival, one of the world's major video competitions, attracted a record 2,154 entries, including 1,115 from 39 foreign countries and regions, this year. The Tokyo Video Festival was initiated in 1978 to encourage communication through video-making by amateur and professional individuals and groups. Winners of this year's festival will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Garden Hall of Ebisu Garden Place, Tokyo, starting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 6, 1999. This year's entries included an increasing number of works from young people. Students accounted for more than 30% of the entries, a festival first. Entries from people in their sixties or above comprised approximately 20% of the total, providing further evidence that video production has become a creative hobby for senior citizens. Entries this year were also characterized by a dramatic increase in themes based on people's lives. Entry Tendency by Graph Overseas Entries Age Group of Entrants Entries produced with digital camcorders and PCs also increased this year. Camcorders?f advanced digital features and nonlinear editing functions were used to produce some exceptionally beautiful scenes and powerful effects. The judges of the 21st Tokyo Video Festival are Susumu Hani, film director; Hakudo Kobayashi, video artist; Fujiko Nakaya, video artist; Nobuhiko Obayashi, film director; Makoto Shiina, novelist; Naoto Takenaka, actor and film director; and Masaru Nakamura, general manager, Visual Software Division, JVC. In addition, Mari Christine, cross-cultural communicator, is serving as a guest judge. Live broadcasts of the 21st ceremony, scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 6, 1999, will be viewable on the Internet at English:http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/english/tvf/ Japanese:http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/tvf/ Works will be presented on the same homepages, as follow: Dec. 21 - Feb. 6: Nominations, 21st Tokyo Video Festival Feb. 6 - Awardees, 21st Tokyo Video Festival # # #

(c)copyright 1998 VICTOR COMPANY OF JAPAN, LIMITED. All rights reserved.