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November 22, 2025
 

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Taiga Uranaka
Hiroshi Shimizu (left), president of Nippon Life Insurance, and Satoshi Asahi, vice president and future president, shake hands after a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2024
Nippon Life’s $12 billion acquisition spree is just beginning
Having committed to pouring billions into a pair of global insurers, the firm is now turning to asset managers, as it seeks to diversify business at home and abroad.
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan’s largest insurer by assets, will buy $250 million worth of convertible notes and $300 million of preferred securities issued by TCW Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2024
Nippon Life ramps up global push with $550 million TCW deal
The announcement comes just a day after Nippon Life agreed to buy Bermuda-based Resolution Life Group Holdings for about $8.2 billion.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui are enjoying record earnings and they are determined to fund overseas expansion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024
Japan's megabanks are flush with cash and hunting overseas deals
The primary focus is on the U.S. and India, respectively the world’s largest economy and the fastest-growing.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
MUFG considering bid for Japanese robo-adviser WealthNavi
MUFG took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year
Kazuto Oku in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 19, 2024
Norinchukin loss to exceed $9.7 billion as bank dumps foreign bonds
Traders and investors are closely watching how Norinchukin plans to reallocate its $304 billion investment portfolio.
Mizuho Financial CEO Masahiro Kihara during a news conference in Tokyo on Nov. 14
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024
Japan’s biggest banks raise profit goals, unveil buybacks
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group now project a combined ¥3.7 trillion ($24 billion) in profit this fiscal year.
Rakuten's sale of 15% stake in its credit card arm to Mizuho Financial Group would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024
Rakuten sells Mizuho 15% of credit card arm for ¥165 billion
The sale would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter, Rakuten said in a statement Wednesday.
Yasushi Itagaki, head of MUFG’s global commercial banking business, says the banking group aims to push up its buyouts and investment in India, and increase annual returns from them to 20% in 10 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024
MUFG seeks acquisitions in India to drive growth, targeting 20% returns
Japan's largest lender is competing with a slew of global peers to expand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Tomoki Arai, head of markets at Bank of Yokohama
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2024
Bank of Yokohama weighs Japan bond comeback with more rate hikes to come
More financial institutions are weighing a return to local debt after years of investing abroad.
Toshinori Yashiki, a senior official at the Financial Services Agency, says the regulator will examine Japanese megabanks’ lending to private equity and other funds in the U.S. for risk management.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024
Japan regulator to scrutinize megabanks’ lending to U.S. funds
The nation's largest banks are increasing what is known as subscription finance and lending to funds that provide equity or credit to private companies.
To lessen the impact from any shocks, including a U.S. economic slump, Mizuho has been buying Treasurys and other assets that are easier to sell or hedge against price falls.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2024
Mizuho choosing liquid assets, bracing for risk of failed U.S. soft landing
Market participants appear overconfident that U.S. policymakers will be able to tame inflation without causing a recession, the bank's co-head of global markets has said.
Toru Yamasaki, president of San-in Godo Bank, says buying the Japanese government bonds are better for a regional bank like his than foreign debt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Japan bank stung by Fed hikes plots return to government bonds
A bank operating in Japan’s least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same.
A stock board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 3, 2024
Japan FSA to examine bank risks in ‘world with interest rates’
In its annual policy guidance released on Friday, the Financial Services Agency pointed to uncertainty over the global economy and markets.
Fukuoka Financial Group President Hisashi Goto
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2024
Regional bank that hired JPMorgan’s Japan strategist seeks more
Fukuoka Financial Group is seeking specialists in alternative investment and equities as it faces pressure to boost returns for shareholders.
Hideki Ito, commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, says Japan needs to be cautious about approving crypto-linked exchange-traded funds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 8, 2024
Japan’s top finance regulator hesitant on crypto ETF approvals
Whether to follow the likes of Hong Kong and the U.S. by approving crypto-linked exchange-traded funds requires "cautious consideration,” he said.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group CEO Hironori Kamezawa (center) and other executives bow during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2024
MUFG heads to take pay cut after information firewall breach
21 MUFG officials, including some retired executives, will give up part of their pay after the bank was penalized for the unauthorized sharing of client information.
Brokers such as Nomura are busy handling transactions for the offloading of cross-shareholdings among Japanese companies, which bring in hefty fees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2024
Block trades herald $5 billion fee windfall for Japan’s brokers
Pressure to improve corporate governance is leading firms to whittle down an estimated ¥50 trillion ($320 billion) they hold in companies with which they do business.
Keisuke Mukunashi, CEO of Yamaguchi Financial Group, says the regional bank is ready to pay compensation comparable to that of Japan’s biggest banks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 14, 2024
Regional Japan lender dangles megabank pay for market hires
Competition among financial institutions to hire bond traders and other specialists is intensifying as the Bank of Japan nudges interest rates higher.
Nintendo is among the big name companies in which Kyoto Financial Group has cross-held shares.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
Kyoto bank defies call to unwind holdings after $6-billion gain
Kyoto Financial Group has amassed unrealized profits of more than $6 billion on holdings in other firms.
Traditional boat parties on the Sumida River in Tokyo are popular for informal gatherings among professionals that deal in Japanese government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024
Tokyo’s exclusive circle of government bond traders in demand amid policy shift
The world’s top hedge funds are shaking up the closed community that was, for a time, a sleepy backwater of global finance.
Japanese court orders Cloudflare to pay ¥500 million over manga piracy
Cloudflare has been ordered to pay ¥500 million after four major publishing firms accused the firm of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
¥21.3 trillion stimulus package approved by Cabinet
The Cabinet is expected to submit an extra budget bill to finance the package to parliament, which is in session until Dec. 17.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ¥3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Japanese companies advised to change mindset about investment in Africa
Bernard Laurendeau, chief of Enkopa Lab Japan, in Tokyo last month
Munetaka Murakami headlines quartet looking to move to MLB via posting system
The Swallows' Munetaka Murakami has 246 career home runs in eight NPB seasons.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
Why we can’t get enough of the sham of the rental family
“Rental Family,” directed and co-written by the single-named Hikari, follows out-of-work actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who is hired as the “token white guy” at a Tokyo agency called Rental Family.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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