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July 04, 2025
 

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INVESTMENTS

Japanese pension funds are moving to appoint chief investment officers with expertise to improve risk management and help make more effective market deals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025
Japanese pension funds holding $400 billion hire their first CIOs
Until recently, senior administrators often with limited experience doing deals in financial markets were responsible for making investment decisions.
Bain Capital has about five deals under discussion that leverage a strategy to unlock value from real estate assets held by Japanese companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025
With ¥723 billion in Japan real estate already, Bain ramps up property deals
Property is becoming a key feature of the booming private equity landscape in Japan, as global investment firms look to scoop up undervalued assets.
The Japan Securities Dealers Association sent questionnaires to major Japanese and foreign brokerages asking about bond selling irregularities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025
JSDA said to probe brokerages on unsuitable Japanese bond sales
The probe marks a step toward ridding Japan’s primary bond market of opaque sales practices as rising interest rates boost investor appetite for debt with higher yields.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management Japan is expanding its business as Japanese institutional investors are increasingly willing to hire third parties to help oversee their trillions of dollars in assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025
Goldman CIO service suddenly catches on in Japan after 10 years
The return of inflation after two decades has added pressure on Japan’s pensions and insurance companies to seek higher returns.
Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Jan. 28
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 8, 2025
Meta in talks for Scale AI investment that could top $10 billion
The financing could exceed $10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time.
Iryna Mudra (center), the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, and others prepare for a photo shoot at an international peace conference at The Hague, Netherlands, in April last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Ukraine hits out at Europe's payout from frozen Russian cash
Compensating private investors before victims of war sends the wrong signal, says Iryna Mudra, a deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Tokyo. Stock traders are looking for signs of activist holdings in Japanese firms, with more than 80% of Tokyo-listed companies, whose fiscal year ends in March, expected to hold shareholder meetings in the last five days of June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2025
Traders scouring annual meeting filings for traces of activist shareholdings
Multiple stocks jumped last week after activist investor Aya Nomura’s name appeared in annual general meeting letters, listed as a stakeholder.
Solar panels at an industrial complex in Rajasthan, India, are an example of India-Japan renewable energy cooperation. The two countries can strengthen their ties by co-developing green and advanced technologies, solar energy among them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2025
The ground is fertile for Japan-India green economy partnerships
Japan and India can build on their long-standing relationship to spearhead the development of green and advanced technologies such as renewable energy and chips.
Japanese trading companies' shares gained following comments from Warren Buffett at the Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting that he expects his company to hold the shares for 50 years or more.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
Buffett inspires retail investors to bet on Japan trading houses
Japanese trading companies shares gained following comments from Warren Buffett that he expects his company to hold the shares for 50 years or more.
Otakukon, an anime, manga and cosplay meet in Harare, Zimbabwe, last August. Japan should take advantage of decades worth of hugely popular cultural content by taking the big swings in bringing its own stories to global audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2025
Japan can ride the anime wave to become the new soft superpower
It's time for Japan to better leverage anime's global popularity, reaching international audiences via streaming platforms while opening the door to other cultural exports.
The Central Business District of Lagos. Japan is reasserting a commitment to do more business with Africa as it emerges from years during which its private sector was particularly risk-averse.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2025
Japan seeks to grow Africa investments to ease reliance on China
The country aims to do more business with Africa as it emerges from years during which its private sector was particularly risk-averse.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline along the Dalton Highway near Stevens Village, Alaska
ASIA PACIFIC
May 31, 2025
Trump officials set for talks with Asia leaders on Alaska energy
Foreign officials from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, India and the United Arab Emirates are expected to be included in the talks.
Tokyo-listed Dai-ichi Life has been aggressively expanding beyond traditional life insurance in Japan and focusing on asset management as one of its growth areas.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2025
Dai-ichi Life to buy $1.1 billion M&G stake in partnership
Tokyo-listed Dai-ichi Life has been aggressively expanding beyond traditional life insurance in Japan and focusing on asset management as one of its growth areas.
Nippon Steel said it would build a new electric arc furnace — which uses scrap metal as a raw material — at its Kyushu works, while expanding and restarting capacity at two other sites.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025
Nippon Steel plans $6 billion investment in its Japanese mills
The spending in Japan comes at a critical juncture for the firm’s 17-month push to acquire U.S. Steel.
Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings, a move that suggests they see a lower likelihood of the yen showing the kind of strength it did in the past.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 30, 2025
Japanese life insurers cut bullish yen hedges to 14-year low
Nine of Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings to 44.4% at the end of March from 45.2% six months earlier.
James Rosewald, co-founder of Dalton Investments, speaks during an interview at the company's office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Dalton connects with activist investor-linked fund to pressure Fuji Media
Dalton is trying to pressure Fuji Media after the broadcaster earlier this month spurned the fund’s proposal for 12 new directors, including SBI Holdings' Yoshitaka Kitao.
Japan lost its position as the world’s largest creditor nation for the first time in 34 years despite posting a record amount of overseas assets, with Germany overtaking the country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025
Japan loses top creditor status for first time in 34 years
Despite Japan’s net external assets rising to a record high, it lost the top position to Germany.
Jack Ma attends his company Alibaba Group's initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014. After a long absence from the public sphere, Ma recently attended a government-led private enterprises symposium in Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 26, 2025
Harnessing China’s tech giants: The case of Jack Ma
Alibaba founder Jack Ma's rehabilitation into public life signals China's intention to steer its tech entrepreneurs to do business with broader national interests in mind.
A United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The guessing game continues as to what a "partnership" between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, as announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, actually entails.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025
Even Nippon Steel is unsure about what a ‘partnership’ with U.S. Steel means
U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for the steelmakers has left the markets guessing and the participants keen to remain mum.
U.S. President Donald Trump says U.S. Steel will be "controlled by the United States, otherwise I wouldn’t make the deal” on what he called a "partnership" with Nippon Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025
Trump backing for Nippon Steel deal comes with big questions
The U.S. leader's unexpected announcement stopped short of explicitly endorsing Nippon Steel’s proposed takeover, instead asserting that U.S. Steel would "remain American.”
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
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."
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.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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

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