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May 03, 2024
 

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Taiga Uranaka
For Taiga Uranaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Nippon Life Insurance headquarters in Osaka. Japanese insurers are seeking more investments in private credit, attracted to their floating interest rates as global borrowing costs jump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2023
Private credit boom attracts Japan insurers with $2.6 trillion
Dai-ichi Life Insurance and Nippon Life Insurance are among companies that are seeking more investments in private credit.
The BOJ’s monetary easing has kept the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, and most traders have never experienced a major surge in rates that would put them at risk of large writedowns.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023
Traders who survived the 1980s become must-have hires in Japan
With the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, most traders have never experienced a surge in rates that would put them at risk.
Hiroyuki Nagai, president and chief executive officer of Rakuten Bank (left), attends the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023
Rakuten Bank sees edge over rivals once BOJ ends negative rates
Uncertainty remains over when the Bank of Japan will scrap the policy, which has squeezed banks’ lending margins since its introduction seven years ago.
Signage for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (right) and Mizuho Bank (center) in Tokyo. Two of Japan's mega-banks reported solid quarterly profit on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023
Japan’s biggest banks beat estimates, adding to BOJ tailwind
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said net income for the quarter ending June 30 was ¥248 billion, while Mizuho Financial Group’s was ¥245.2 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2023
Japan's mega-bank CEOs paid less than global peers despite near-record profits
Japanese companies have traditionally seen compensation as a reward for rising successfully through the ranks, while paychecks elsewhere tend to reflect performance.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2023
Mizuho rolls out generative AI to all 45,000 bank staff in Japan
Already, managers and rank-and-file employees are submitting dozens of pitches for ways to harness the technology even before the software is installed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2023
Japan’s biggest bank in talks to issue global stablecoins
MUFG is in discussions with multiple parties about using its blockchain platform, Progmat, to mint stablecoins tied to foreign currencies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2023
Wall Street deals show unfulfilled ambition of Japan’s megabanks
Japanese lenders have so far made slow progress cracking the U.S. market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2023
Japan's top banks expect solid profits, MUFG sees record year
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's second- and third-largest lenders by assets, also expect their highest net profits since the mid 2010s.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 3, 2023
Here are five ways finance is trying to de-risk heat waves
From heatstroke insurance to plans that reimburse dairy farmers when cows are too hot to produce milk, a new wave of products may help communities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2023
Bankers chase startups in Japan as funding dries up elsewhere
Lenders including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Mizuho Bank are planning to increase the staff they allocate to startup businesses.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2023
Japanese banks face ‘gender washing’ spotlight on its managers
The issue has broader implications for other industries in Japan, which has long lagged behind global counterparts for workplace diversity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2023
Regulator urges local banks to improve asset portfolio management
The FSA has been warning of risks posed by rising interest rates to regional lenders’ bond holdings long before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2023
Sumitomo Mitsui wants Wall Street bankers for U.S. expansion
The newly appointed head of the firm’s core banking unit says the downturn in the global economy will help it attract talent as it seeks to boost areas like sales and trading.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 29, 2023
Japan’s Dai-ichi Life turns $260 billion portfolio toward JGBs
Dai-ichi was among the biggest holders of foreign bonds as a result of the BOJ’s decadelong stimulus drive, but now is increasing investments in superlong government bonds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2023
Why Japanese banks are well placed to withstand banking crisis
Regulators and industry heads have been quick to say Japan’s financial system is sound, while analysts have been busy reassuring worried bank investors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2023
Kuroda’s decade at the BOJ changed how Japan’s banks make money
Investors prepare for an eventual normalization of monetary policy with BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, who introduced negative interest rates, set to hand over the reins.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2023
Japanese banking giants bump up graduate starting salaries in talent war
Wage hikes by Japanese companies are in the spotlight this year, as the possible exit of the central bank’s ultraeasy monetary policy hinges largely on sustained salary growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2023
Funds that inflate green credentials face strict new rules in Japan
Under the FSA’s new guidelines, only funds that consider environmental, social and governance as a 'key factor” when choosing investments can be marketed as such.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 26, 2023
MUFG markets chief says BOJ may ditch ultraeasy policy by September
Such a move would depend on stable price increases and wage growth, as well as the health of the U.S. and European economies, Hiroyuki Seki said.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'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.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
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.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
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.

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