A rising trend of share buybacks has made corporates the real whales of Japan's stock market as the Bank of Japan continues to step back from its asset purchase program.

Total share buybacks by Japanese companies are on track to top ¥7 trillion ($61.3 billion) this fiscal year, a near 50% increase from the previous one, according to Tokai Tokyo Research Institute market analyst Makoto Sengoku. That’s more than the Bank of Japan’s old ¥6 trillion guide for annual exchange-traded-fund (ETF) purchases, a target that was scrapped earlier this year.

SoftBank Group Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group have all announced major share-buyback plans recently.