Business / Financial Markets Aug 15, 2016
The BOJ's unstoppable rise to shareholder No. 1 in Japan
The Bank of Japan's controversial march to the top of the shareholder rankings in the world's third-largest equity market is picking up pace.
Anna Kitanaka
For Anna Kitanaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
National Jun 28, 2016
CEO taps monk training to shine way for driverless taxis
Hisashi Taniguchi used a sabbatical from developing software for driverless taxis and drones to take a pilgrimage to a Buddhist temple in western Japan. He shaved his head, donned black robes and studied to become its leader. He passed the test, yet within a week ...
Business / Financial Markets Apr 27, 2016
GPIF head says too soon to pass verdict on negative rates
Stocks tumbled, the yen strengthened and bond yields melted away after Japan moved to negative interest rates, but the head of the country's giant pension fund is far from fazed. The Government Pension Investment Fund is still assessing whether rates below zero will be effective ...
Business Apr 25, 2016
BOJ seen quietly snapping up big stakes in Japan Inc. via ETFs
They may not realize it yet, but Japan Inc.'s executives are increasingly working for a shareholder unlike any other: the nation's money-printing central bank. While the Bank of Japan's name is nowhere to be found in regulatory filings on major stock investors, the monetary authority's ...
Business / Economy Apr 18, 2016
Japan index compilers rush to please BOJ and excite normal investors
A man walks into a tailor, orders a custom-made suit and then says he's bound by his own rules to only buy half of it. Sell the rest to someone else, he says. That, essentially, is the conundrum facing S&P Dow Jones Indices, except that ...
Business / Financial Markets Apr 11, 2016
Abenomics rebuked as major foreign investors join $46 billion Japan pullout
For global equity investors and Shinzo Abe, it’s splitsville.
Business / Economy Feb 23, 2016
As overseas investors flee Japan, BlackRock places bets
As foreign investors flee Tokyo stocks, the world's largest asset manager says the move by the Bank of Japan that spooked the market will be one of the main things that pushes it back up. BlackRock Inc. is bullish on Japanese shares even after this ...
Business / Economy Feb 3, 2016
Economist says pre-bout parade of sumo sponsors gives clues to Japan Inc.'s health
When the giants of sumo wrestling prepared to step into the ring for last month's grand tournament in Tokyo, Akiyoshi Takumori fired up his spreadsheet. For Takumori, an economist at one of Japan's biggest asset managers, the ancient sport is more than entertainment: It is ...
Business / Financial Markets Jan 18, 2016
Japan's stock buyers unconvinced despite positive technical signs
After the worst start to a year on record, Japanese stocks are approaching levels that in the past have proved to be springboards to recoveries. The rout that's erased more than $300 billion from Japanese equities in 2016 sent bearish bets to historic levels and ...
Business / Financial Markets Jan 4, 2016
Foreign investors get it wrong on Japan stocks, ending 25-year run
For the first year since 1989, foreign investors sold Japanese stocks and missed a rally. Overseas investors, who account for more than two-thirds of trading in Tokyo, cut holdings in 2015 even as the Topix index climbed 8.9 percent in dollars and 21 percent in ...