MySpace 'set to launch in Japan'

Existing MySpace sites have about 90 million users

A version of social networking site MySpace is to launch in Japan - perhaps as soon as this week - reports say.

The one billion yen ($8.5m; £4.5m) venture will be jointly run by News Corp and Japanese internet company Softbank, Japanese media says.

Social networking sites in Japan - including Softbank subsidiary Yahoo Japan - have about 10 million users.

The most popular, Mixi, has seen its number of members increase five-fold in the past year.

News Corp bought MySpace.com, which is particularly popular with teenagers, last year for an estimated $580m.

It has become one of the internet's fastest-growing websites with a reported 90 million users.

The head of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, was in Tokyo on Monday and was expected to hold talks with Softbank president Masayosi Son, said the Nihon Keizai business newspaper and the Kyodo news agency.