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July 12, 2026
 

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Taiga Uranaka
The Aozora Bank headquarters in Tokyo. The bank surprised investors with losses tied to U.S. commercial property, sending shares down by the limit and heightening concern over global banks' exposure to souring real estate bets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024
Gamble on U.S. commercial property blows up for Japan’s Aozora
Shares went down by the limit and heightened concern over global banks’ exposure to souring real estate bets.
Toshinori Yashiki, deputy director-general at the Financial Services Agency, urged lenders to pay particular attention to highly-leveraged borrowers.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2024
Japan regulator will probe risks to banks from higher rates
The Bank of Japan is expected to make its first rate hike since 2007 within a few months, raising the possibility that borrowers will struggle with higher interest payments.
Noriyuki Sato, head of asset management at Mizuho Financial Group, says the bank plans to ramp up its expansion into private markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 18, 2024
Mizuho considers U.S. deal to supercharge private markets growth
The lender’s $460 billion money-management arm is considering buying a stake in a U.S. or European firm specializing in alternative investments.
The Tokio Marine & Nichido Building in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023
Japan penalizes biggest property insurers for price fixing
The Financial Services Agency has issued business improvement orders on the core units of Tokio Marine, MS&AD Insurance and Sompo.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s CEO Jun Ohta died Saturday. He was 65.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2023
Sumitomo Mitsui CEO Jun Ohta, who pushed Asia expansion, dies at 65
Ohta’s well-being attracted attention when he missed an earnings briefing earlier this month, with the bank citing health reasons.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is exploring more investments in mid- and late-stage tech startups, seeing room for expansion into a field that historically was shunned by relatively conservative giant lenders.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2023
Top Japanese bank builds startup fund as policy push lures lenders
Mars Growth Capital, co-run by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, now has around 40 to 50 potential investment deals for its recently launched equity fund.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group announced a $2.6 billion share buyback program after fiscal second-quarter profit tripled.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2023
Japan’s largest banks to buy back shares after profits soar
Japan’s biggest banks have unveiled plans to boost shareholder returns after posting record first-half profits, thanks in part to a cheaper yen.
Mizuho Financial Group will raise its stake in Rakuten Securities to nearly 50%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Mizuho said to raise Rakuten Securities stake to almost 50%
The banking group plans to increase its investment in Rakuten’s online securities arm, which isn’t proceeding with an initial public offering for now.
Kyoto Financial Group's early bets on Nintendo and other Kyoto-based startups are now bringing huge gains to the regional bank.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 3, 2023
Early bets on Nintendo and Nidec yield big gains for Kyoto bank
Kyoto Financial Group has equity holdings worth almost ¥903 billion thanks to investments made decades ago.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2023
Compensation to be given over Japan payments clearing system glitch
Zengin-Net, the system’s operator, said member banks will reimburse customers for extra fees and penalties incurred.
Signage for Japan's top banks, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2023
Japan’s top banks pay women about half of what men earn
The country has a relatively high labor participation rate for women, but many of the positions they occupy have little prospect of better pay.
Fumitaka Nakahama, Head of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's global corporate and investment banking business, speaks in an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023
MUFG battles private equity and startups to hire U.S. bankers
MUFG is plowing more resources into the American market in a bid to grow alongside established powerhouses.
Mizuho Financial Group has been expanding its presence in the United States to tap the world’s biggest fee pool, becoming one of the four global investment banks leading Arm's IPO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023
Mizuho’s SoftBank ties boost Wall Street ambitions via Arm IPO
The bank has been expanding its presence in the U.S. to tap the world’s biggest fee pool, even as deals slump globally following the pandemic.
The Financial Services Agency said in its annual policy guidance that overseas real estate is among the credit risks to watch this year and that it will assess major banks' "situation of loans” made in this sector.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2023
Japan regulator to evaluate banks’ commercial property exposure
Commercial real estate has become one of the highest-profile asset classes hit by rapid rate hikes.
Nippon Life Insurance headquarters in Osaka. Japanese insurers are seeking more investments in private credit, attracted to their floating interest rates as global borrowing costs jump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2023
Private credit boom attracts Japan insurers with $2.6 trillion
Dai-ichi Life Insurance and Nippon Life Insurance are among companies that are seeking more investments in private credit.
The BOJ’s monetary easing has kept the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, and most traders have never experienced a major surge in rates that would put them at risk of large writedowns.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023
Traders who survived the 1980s become must-have hires in Japan
With the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, most traders have never experienced a surge in rates that would put them at risk.
Hiroyuki Nagai, president and chief executive officer of Rakuten Bank (left), attends the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023
Rakuten Bank sees edge over rivals once BOJ ends negative rates
Uncertainty remains over when the Bank of Japan will scrap the policy, which has squeezed banks’ lending margins since its introduction seven years ago.
Signage for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (right) and Mizuho Bank (center) in Tokyo. Two of Japan's mega-banks reported solid quarterly profit on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023
Japan’s biggest banks beat estimates, adding to BOJ tailwind
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said net income for the quarter ending June 30 was ¥248 billion, while Mizuho Financial Group’s was ¥245.2 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2023
Japan’s mega-bank CEOs paid less than global peers despite near-record profits
Japanese companies have traditionally seen compensation as a reward for rising successfully through the ranks, while paychecks elsewhere tend to reflect performance.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2023
Mizuho rolls out generative AI to all 45,000 bank staff in Japan
Already, managers and rank-and-file employees are submitting dozens of pitches for ways to harness the technology even before the software is installed.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

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

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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