News of the first Japanese bank opening in Cayman made the front page of the 17 Oct. 1973 Cayman Compass. The Bank of Tokyo was granted a banking and trust company licence by the Cayman Islands government, enabling it to officially open its offices on 1 Oct. The article said that the opening “created history” as the first Japanese institution to begin offshore banking here. The accompanying photo showed bank president Yoshio Itoh signing the visitors book in the VIP lounge of Owen Roberts International Airport.
A less-serious photo on page 2, headlined ‘Heavy Haul’, was of Dax Foster struggling to carry a very hefty breadfruit home, with the effort of the exercise clearly showing on the boy’s face. 
The Cayman Islands Conservation Association, in its continuing effort to protect our resources, took out an ad, ‘Useless Mangrove?’, pointing to all the benefits of this natural “buffer zone between land and restless sea”. The association also noted that “thousands of birds, millions of fish hatchlings, and juvenile shellfish” benefit from mangroves, which are “something worth saving”.
Finally, there was an article on page 6 publicising the achievement of someone very well known to people in Cayman – Haig Bodden – who won the National Sales Achievement Award for the fifth consecutive year. The award was given to life insurance agents “who produce a large volume of high quality business”. According to the article, Bodden’s conversion rate the year before was 99.24%, which he raised to a perfect 100% up to that point in 1973. His award was presented by the National Association of Life Underwriters in Washington, D.C.
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