Business Notes TAKEOVERS---

Are U.S. takeover artists ready to breach the clubby confines of the Tokyo stock market? In what appears to be the first direct hostile raid on a Japanese company by a foreigner, T. Boone Pickens disclosed last week, the Texas-based corporate raider has accumulated a 20% stake in Koito Manufacturing, a key supplier of car parts to Toyota.

Pickens' foray drew flak from Tokyo investors, who saw the move as an attempt to elicit greenmail -- the money that a company pays raiders when it buys back their shares at a costly premium. The Japanese government is investigating whether Pickens ambushed Koito by teaming up with secret partners who unethically bought shares for him under their own names.

While Pickens is now Koito's largest shareholder, analysts doubt that the Texan can take over the company. Reason: most of Koito's shares lie firmly in the hands of corporate allies who rarely sell their holdings. Since Japanese companies are not allowed to own their own stock, Pickens might try to sell his stake to one of Koito's allies. The Texan claims he simply saw Koito as a company with potential for improvement. Says he: "We want to work with Koito. New blood often helps."