Every year, the media trot out a list of Japan's most popular phrases. Last year's "phrase of the year" award went to "I feel ultra-fine!" -- the quote by swimmer Kosuke Kitajima who brought home multiple gold from the Athens Olympics.

Although we are only two months into 2005, a phrase already has emerged that looks well-poised to grab the top prize. That phrase is: "financial conglomerates," aka "universal banking."

All of a sudden, financial institutions in Japan are trying to become everything to everybody. Hence mergers and tieups are all the rage among hitherto rivals and neighbors who were once thought protected by inviolate walls of separation.