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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:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2022
MUFG weighs more share buybacks to boost returns as cash grows
The plan underscores the challenges facing Japan's biggest banks as they weigh how to invest billions of dollars in profits amid ultralow interest rates and tepid loan demand at home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 13, 2022
Japan's financial watchdog examines bond slump risk if BOJ shifts policy
At stake is around u00a5151.5 trillion ($1.1 trillion) in debt held by mega-banks and regional lenders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2022
Japan’s megabanks plan $2.5 billion buybacks
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group both said they will buy back shares while Mizuho Financial Group upped a dividend forecast.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2022
Japan’s banks break with Wall Street by embracing hybrid work
The nation's three largest lenders said they are allowing more flexibility, eschewing a minimum number of office days per week, as experienced elsewhere.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2022
Wall Street push by Japan banks under scrutiny as rates rise
Faced with ultralow interest rates and tepid loan demand at home, banks in Japan have been ramping up corporate lending and bond underwriting overseas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2022
Japan’s biggest lender seeks bankers for the rich in wealth push
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to expand a team of bankers serving rich clients as the lender seeks to draw more of its bank customers to higher-value services.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 8, 2022
Mizuho playing catch-up on transaction banking and plans more hires
The firm is seeking to grow its head count to add to the roughly 160 transaction bankers it already has in Asia, CEO Masahiko Kato said, without specifying a number.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2022
Japan passes stablecoin bill that enshrines investor protection
Stablecoins must be linked to the yen or another legal tender and guarantee holders the right to redeem them at face value.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 13, 2022
Top Japanese banks warn of uncertainties as profit seen slowing
The banks expect bad loan costs to drop as the impact of the pandemic eases, but are bracing for a challenging year as the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks raise interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2022
New Mizuho CEO plans to expand U.S. capital markets business
The firm wants to hire bankers to build its businesses with non-investment grade companies and leveraged buyout financing, Masahiro Kihara says.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2022
Mizuho targets cash-poor millionaires in wealth management push
Japan's third-largest bank aims to to have 1,000 families on board with its wealth unit by this time next year, up from 600 at present, a representative said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 23, 2022
Tokyo prosecutors to indict SMBC Nikko for alleged market manipulation: report
The move against the unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., the country's No. 2 lender, will be a blow to one of Japan's biggest brokerages and its second-largest megabank.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 16, 2022
Scandal rocks Japanese finance as SMBC Nikko staff are arrested
The arrests are a sudden escalation of a situation that's been brewing since at least June, when the Financial Services Agency's enforcement arm raided SMBC Nikko's offices.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2022
Japan looks to plug potential crypto holes in Russia sanctions
Individuals can use cryptocurrency exchanges that don't verify the identity of customers to conduct transactions even if they are in sanctioned countries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2022
Mizuho’s new CEO faces legacy issues from decades-old merger
Mizuho Financial Group is tapping a relatively young career insider to turn around the bank that's been plagued by a series of technical disruptions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2021
Mitsubishi UFJ targets Asia unicorns with debt-finance fund
Japan's largest lender will start a u00a534 billion fund early next year after upsizing its first joint-venture fund earlier this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2021
Sumitomo Mitsui CEO Jun Ohta still looking for more acquisition targets
The head of Japan's second-largest lender is seeking to broaden services across Asia, acquiring commercial banks and consumer-finance companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Dec 13, 2021
As Japan's finance sector ends painful year, ex-Nomura banker vows to bring change
By taking effective control of Shinsei Bank Ltd., Yoshitaka Kitao is setting his sights on creating a banking alliance to rival the conservative old guard.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Nov 25, 2021
Japanese financier scores big win in battle for Shinsei Bank
Shinsei Bank canceled a shareholder vote on a poison pill defense against a takeover bid from Yoshitaka Kitao's SBI Holdings that was scheduled for Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 24, 2021
Shinsei Bank drops poison pill defense in SBI takeover saga
A takeover fight erupted for Shinsei in September when Japan's biggest online brokerage launched a rare unsolicited tender offer to increase its stake in Shinsei.
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.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'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.
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.

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

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