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April 25, 2025
 

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Hideki Suzuki
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.
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.
For Seven Bank, greater independence from its parent Seven & I Holdings could lead to new growth opportunities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024
Seven Bank seeks to expand cash-machine network beyond 7-Elevens
Deconsolidation from Seven & I resulting from a reduction of its stake in Seven Bank would make such a scenario more possible.
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.
Seven & I Holdings' 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024
Seven & I is said to plan reducing stake in banking unit to 38%
The retailer’s 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
Yokohama-based Fuji Soft held a board meeting on Friday and decided to stick with KKR’s tender for its shares despite receiving a higher bid from Bain Capital.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2024
Fuji Soft sticks with KKR despite higher takeover offer from Bain
The special committee advising Fuji Soft said it would be difficult for Bain to take the company private, according to a statement.
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.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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