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July 07, 2025
 

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Hideki Suzuki
Japanese companies are rushing to protect their employees and brace operations in the Middle East for the fallout from U.S. strikes on Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025
Japan’s banks pull staff from Middle East after U.S. strikes Iran
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has started to pull staff out of locations including Dubai, and halted unnecessary travel in and out of the region.
The Japanese Bankers Association said Thursday that it has revised its sample agreement to explicitly prohibit the storage of cash in safe-deposit boxes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025
Japanese banks set to ban storage of cash in safe-deposit boxes
In recent months, incidents came to light in which workers at major lenders allegedly stole client valuables held in such boxes.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking will be one of the funding sources for a wealth management joint venture by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SBI Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui and SBI to launch wealth management joint venture
Policymakers in Japan are encouraging individual investors to put more of their money in riskier assets such as equities.
Mizuho Financial Group forecast on Thursday that its net income will likely climb 6.1% to ¥940 billion ($6.5 billion) in the year that started in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Mizuho anticipates record earnings in fiscal 2025 despite tariff dent
Japan's third-largest lender indicated that uncertainty in global trade has led to a more conservative outlook as U.S. tariff measures make business planning less predictable.
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion ($13.7 billion) for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
MUFG expects record profit and joins rivals in buying back shares
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s clients are becoming cautious about making deals and investments amid uncertainties over U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui braces for tariff fallout with more buffers
Japan’s second-largest lender expects net income to climb about 10% to ¥1.3 trillion in the year that started in April.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is in talks to provide corporate client data to Fujitsu to run through the IT company’s multimodal machine learning tools to make business forecasts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025
SMBC and Fujitsu to partner on AI-driven forecasting services
The move would be a rare instance of a Japanese bank allowing another company access to sensitive customer data.
Masamichi Koike, head of global markets business at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, says the Bank of Japan is likely to increase the policy rate to 1% this year as long as the U.S. economy doesn’t falter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 25, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui markets head sees BOJ rate at 30-year high
The Bank of Japan is likely to increase the policy rate to 1% this year from the current 0.5% as long as the U.S. economy doesn’t falter, said Masamichi Koike.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has walked away from the banking industry’s largest climate alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025
MUFG leaves climate group as Japanese banks join Wall Street exits
MUFG follows Tokyo-based rivals Nomura Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in leaving the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has decided to withdraw from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a spokesperson said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2025
Japan’s SMFG joins Wall Street in exiting net zero banking group
Japan’s second-largest bank has decided to withdraw from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2025
Seven & I buyout talks stall over management control
The founding Ito family and Itochu have yet to reach consensus on the composition of the board of the post-buyout entity, sources said.
The scramble to take Fuji Soft private is rooted in the value of the software company’s trove of human resources and real estate.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2025
KKR wins control of $4.4 billion Fuji Soft after Bain clash
KKR aims to acquire the remaining shares in the software company through a squeeze-out process.
The consortium proposing to take Seven & I Holdings private has tapped Citigroup and Bank of America for financing, adding to a growing group of players in the potentially record-breaking management buyout bid, people familiar with the matter said.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2025
Seven & I consortium to tap Bank of America and Citi for financing
The two U.S. banks’ role in the bid would be to refinance the debt of Seven & I’s U.S. unit.
MUFG virtually reached its full-year profit goal with a quarter to spare, earning a record ¥1.749 trillion in the first nine months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025
MUFG profit soars in bumper earnings season for Japan banks
Japanese banks are benefiting from rising interest rates following more than a decade of ultra-easy monetary policy.
Japanese banks are enjoying bumper earnings as they begin to benefit from rising interest rates following more than a decade of ultraeasy monetary policy.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui profit beats estimates as rate hikes bolster earnings
Net income at Japan’s second-largest bank rose 54% from a year earlier to ¥410.8 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, calculations show.
KKR is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025
KKR considers joining Seven & I management buyout after Apollo
The U.S. firm is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
Apollo Global Management is discussing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion for an equity stake in a bid by Seven & I’s founding Ito family to take the convenience store operator private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025
Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout
Under the current proposal, Apollo would join the Ito family and Itochu, the operator of FamilyMart in Japan, as key investors.
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024
Mizuho CEO sees global boom in M&A after Trump takes office
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
Bain Capital plans to pay ¥9,600 a share for Fuji Soft, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2024
Bain raises offer for Fuji Soft in $4.3 billion contest with KKR
The Boston-based investment firm plans to pay ¥9,600 a share for Fuji Soft, it said in a statement.
Itochu has tapped Daiwa Securities Group and the founding Ito family has hired SMBC Nikko Securities as financial advisers for their ¥9 trillion ($58.4 billion) proposal to take Seven & I Holdings private, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Nomura, Daiwa and other advisers win coveted Seven & I buyout roles
The multitude of financial advisers reflects the complexity of any potential buyout, as well as the lucrative fees if consummated.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan's tea farms dry
Matcha is added to beverages on offer at Kettl Tea in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 20.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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