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May 02, 2024
 

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Shingo Kawamoto
For Shingo Kawamoto's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 20, 2015
Japan Post's IPO might just shake up lagging regional lenders
The nation's regional banks need a little shaking up: There are far too many of them, profits from loans are shrinking, and their customers are disappearing. The enormous privatization of Japan Post, coming up next month, may just help spur them into action.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2015
Internet banking slow to take root in nation where branches offer friendly face time
For bank analyst Mac Salman, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi flagship branch in Tokyo is so majestic that he brings friends and family there when they visit Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 14, 2015
Mitsubishi UFJ pivots back toward Japan as Krugman laments economy
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the lender that has made about $13 billion in acquisitions overseas since its founding a decade ago, is making a pivot toward its home market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2015
Record-low bad debts make up for disappearing loan profit
Plunging interest rates are helping reduce Japanese banks' bad debt to record-low levels of almost a fifth of their highs 13 years ago.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 11, 2015
Mitsubishi UFJ to boost Taiwan staff as cross-strait trade grows
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is seeking to expand its workforce in Taiwan as it pursues business from companies benefiting from increasing trade between the island and mainland China.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2015
Japan banks likely to report gains in fees, overseas lending: analysts
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. probably led a slight increase in first-quarter profit at Japan's biggest banks as gains in fee income and overseas lending made up for shrinking loan profitability at home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2015
Regional lenders want to work with Japan Post Bank, on one condition
As Japan Post Bank Co. prepares for an initial public offering and poses increased competition to regional banks, they are willing to do business with the state-owned company — on one condition.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2015
Mega-banks plan riskier bond sales up to ¥4 trillion
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. plan to bolster their balance sheets by introducing bonds that offer investors enhanced returns at greater risk.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2015
Japanese banks oppose stricter capital rules for interest-rate risk
Japanese banks will oppose a push by global regulators to toughen rules on the capital lenders require to withstand an increase in interest rates, the new chief of the country's bank lobby said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2015
LDP pushes for higher deposit cap for postal giant before IPO
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to raise the deposit limit at state-owned Japan Post Holdings Co.'s lending arm before a planned initial public offering later this year, according to a lawmaker who is backing the change.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2014
Sumitomo Mitsui to hire foreign managers in global push
Koichi Miyata, the president of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., said the lender will hire more foreign managers for its overseas operations, tapping their local expertise to aid a global expansion.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2014
Yamagata co-op markets bank account that offers love interest
Deposit your money at a bank in northern Japan and you could get more than interest payments. You might end up getting married.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 21, 2014
Deutsche Bank lays seeds for future with warrants in Japan
Deutsche Bank AG is helping smaller Japanese companies less able to access the bond market raise money using warrants, as it searches for investment banking clients to generate future business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2014
Automakers luring Japan's interest-hungry banks to Mexico
Investments by Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. that look set to make Mexico the biggest car exporter to the U.S. are giving Japanese banks a chance to escape from the world's lowest yields.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2013
Megabanks' profit goals within reach under Abe
Japan's three biggest banks are on pace to achieve their annual profit targets after first-quarter earnings jumped on higher fee income and equity investments.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2010
Goldman, Morgan, Nomura units face increased scrutiny over risk
The Financial Services Agency picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings Inc. as initial subjects of a new unit to scrutinize risk-taking among investment banks, a source said this week.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2009
Moratorium on debt repayment won't up banks' loan woes: Kamei
Japanese banks' bad loans won't be driven higher by a proposed moratorium on debt payments by struggling small companies, Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2009
Banks should cut stock holdings: FSA's Mikuniya
Banks should use a government-backed share purchase program to reduce stock holdings that caused $10 billion of losses at Japan's three biggest lenders last year, the country's top financial regulator said.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2009
Regional banks brace for mortgage defaults
Smaller regional banks may need to brace for an increase in mortgage defaults as unemployment rises and the contagion from the recession spreads.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
A peek inside the brains of ‘super-agers’
For a little more than a decade, scientists have been studying a subset of people they call "super-agers.” These individuals are age 80 and older, but they have the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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