Tokyo- Sony Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai expressed confidence on Tuesday that his company will achieve its target of logging 500 billion yen in group operating profit in fiscal 2017, which ends in March 2018.

"We've now gained enough strength" to attain the 500-billion-yen threshold for the first time in 20 years, a level close to that of fiscal 1997, Hirai said at a press conference at the Japanese company's Tokyo headquarters.

Hirai suggested that Sony will make efforts to further boost earnings of its profitable game division.

Sony forecasts that the game business will post 170 billion yen in operating profit in fiscal 2017, thanks to brisk sales of software and services via online, as well as virtual reality headset PlayStation VR.

The firm's iconic division has "grown to be a pillar of the group, also from the earnings point of view," Hirai said. It is expected to be one of the biggest profit makers for the company in the current year, together with its financial unit.

In the movie division, which incurred a massive loss in fiscal 2016, Hirai said Sony will focus on producing box-office successes.

A man recently arrested by the Osaka prefectural police department for obstructing police officers' duties may be the fugitive wanted for the 1971 murder of a policeman in Tokyo, according to investigative sources.

When the Osaka police searched an extremist hideout in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, on Thursday, they arrested two men who tried to obstruct the search by dashing themselves against police officers. (Jiji Press)