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July 12, 2026
 

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Taiga Uranaka
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s net income climbed 6% from a year earlier to ¥520.6 billion ($3.3 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, according to calculations based on nine-month results released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2026
MUFG profit rises as BOJ’s rate increases bolster lending income
Net income climbed 6% from a year earlier to ¥520.6 billion ($3.3 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31.
Norinchukin Bank is in talks to inject capital into a joint venture that has said its estimated losses from debt linked to First Brands Group have swelled to nearly $1 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2026
Nochu to recapitalize joint venture hit by $1 billion First Brands-linked loss
JA Mitsui Leasing will book a $968 million allowance on the collapsed U.S. auto-parts supplier, more than three times what it had set aside in November.
Nippon Life Insurance President Satoshi Asahi says the firm is always looking at further acquisition opportunities, particularly in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2025
Nippon Life seeking overseas acquisitions and watching bond yields
Japanese financial firms have been aggressively making acquisitions abroad to make up for a lack of growth prospects at home.
Junichi Hanzawa, incoming CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 16, 2025
MUFG’s next CEO seeks growth to close gap with global rivals
Junichi Hanzawa, 60, who is currently the head of the main banking unit, will succeed Hironori Kamezawa as CEO on April 1.
Mizuho Financial Group has completed the integration of U.S. boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co., which it purchased two years ago, and is now reaping the benefits, CEO Masahiro Kihara said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2025
Mizuho CEO upbeat on dealmaking prospects in Japan and U.S.
Mizuho Financial Group’s CEO expressed optimism that momentum in investment banking will continue both at home and in the United States.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group plans to accelerate its expansion in India by increasing lending and staff after investing nearly $5 billion in the fast-growing economy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2025
SMFG accelerates India expansion after $5 billion buying blitz
Sumitomo Mitsui is set to quicken its push into India by boosting lending and adding staff.
Recent mergers and lower valuations are fueling investor bets that more deals may come among Japan’s 73 listed smaller banks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2025
Rate hikes drive Japan regional banks toward mergers to survive
Decades after a debt crisis forced a wave of mergers that created mega lenders, the focus now is on consolidation in Japan’s $3 trillion regional banking industry.
"She has a good vision,” says Masahiro Kihara, CEO of Mizuho Financial Group, referring to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's pro-growth policies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 4, 2025
Mizuho’s CEO says he sees policy tailwinds from Takaichi and BOJ
Masahiro Kihara said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had “good vision,” referring to her policy initiatives, while the central bank has “room for another hike or two.”
Katsuhiko Ushikubo, chief investment officer of Norinchukin Bank, ahead of an interview at the Bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 28, 2025
Norinchukin still ready to invest in credit despite losses
Chief Investment Officer Katsuhiko Ushikubo is in charge of the bank’s efforts to repair its ¥40.7 trillion portfolio after losses on foreign bonds last fiscal year.
Hitoshi Inoue, head of Bank of Yokohama’s markets business
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2025
Top Japan local bank ready to boost JGB buying when BOJ pivots
Bank of Yokohama is prepared to pile back into the domestic debt market when the central bank’s peak interest rate is in sight.
Japan's top financial leaders are working to ease fears that AI will cost jobs, emphasizing its role in boosting efficiency and transforming work.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 10, 2025
Japan’s top bank CEOs push for AI, soothing worry over human work
In Japan, where the financial sector employs hundreds of thousands of people, the conversation over AI and its impact on work is picking up pace.
Sumitomo Life is pledging not to sell its debt assets at a loss, in a rare move to avoid booking valuation losses, a source said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2025
Sumitomo Life takes unusual step to avoid marking JGB losses
The Osaka-based firm, one of Japan’s top-four life insurers, is taking advantage of guidelines for bond investors when prices move sharply.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is strengthening its focus on business catering to the rich, as a bullish Japanese stock market and recovering real estate prices have pushed up the number of such clients in recent years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2025
MUFG is hiring more bankers in Japan wealth management push
MUFG is targeting clients with at least ¥300 million in total assets. The bank estimates that about 300,000 of its account holders fit that description.
Hiroshi Okada of the Financial Services Agency
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025
FSA urges rural banks to help companies get equity funding
The FSA is working to draw up a package of policy measures to expand regional banks’ roles in supporting economies hit by adverse demographic shifts.
A building which houses the Hokuhoku Financial Group headquarters in Toyama.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 30, 2025
Best-performing Japan bank plays BOJ outlook with short debt
The president of Hokuhoku Financial Group said he expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in October or December if “things go smoothly.”
Nomura Holdings will require employees in Japan to spend two days a week in the office, double the current requirement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2025
Nomura doubles minimum work-from-office requirement in Japan
The change is scheduled to take effect in spring next year, putting staff in Japan on par with Nomura’s global employees.
Hironori Kamezawa, chief executive officer of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025
BOJ rate hike in September or October is ‘desirable,’ MUFG chief says
Such a hike is ideal in the face of strong inflation in the country.
Mizuho Financial Group now expects net income to reach a record ¥1.02 trillion ($6.9 billion) in the year ending March 31, up from ¥940 billion projected earlier, it said Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2025
Mizuho and Sumitomo see strong results as Japan banks beat estimates
Japan’s three biggest banks in May predicted another year of record profits, even as the nation’s export-driven economy was at risk from U.S. tariff threats.
Yamanashi Chuo Bank's Tokyo office. The regional bank has set up an "investment advisory firm” to get around internal salary limits and attract talent.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2025
Rural bank in Japan finds novel way to attract talent with higher pay
Yamanashi Chuo Bank has set up an “investment advisory firm” to get around internal salary limits, showing the lengths it’s willing to go to bolster its ranks.
Tokio Marine has made a string of big acquisitions in the U.S. in recent years to make up for limited growth prospects at home.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025
Tokio Marine hunts for deals abroad and sees room for growth in U.S.
The insurer has the capacity for more deals overseas after generating record profits by selling shareholdings worth tens of billions of dollars.
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.

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