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April 14, 2026
 

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Taiga Uranaka
Fukuoka Financial Group has hired 10 people in the past year and plans to recruit another 20 in the period ending March 2028, said Akira Kudo, the company¡¯s head of market operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 14, 2026
Japan¡¯s largest regional bank takes on big names in hiring spree
Fukuoka Financial Group wants to boost its front office staff to around 100 by March 2028 as it looks to expand its ?5.8 trillion investment portfolio.
Nippon Life Insurance's Tokyo headquarters
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 7, 2026
SMFG and Nippon Life discuss $3 billion LBO loan fund
The move would mark a milestone in 91²Ö¿â credit market, where the three biggest banks have dominated lending.
MUFG has about 1,300 staff involved globally in the transaction-banking business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2026
MUFG to take on global peers for slice of $1.3 trillion transaction-banking pie
91²Ö¿â largest lender is looking to capitalize on its competitive strengths in key Asian markets as it strives to catch up with global peers.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group CEO Toru Nakashima says the banking group is seeking growth without large acquisitions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2026
SMFG cools on acquisitions as banking giant sets new profit goal
91²Ö¿â second-largest lender is aiming for ?2 trillion in profit and a 13% return on tangible equity in three years.
Wakkanai Shinkin Bank¡¯s headquarters in Wakkanai, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 25, 2026
A tiny bank runs dry of borrowers as Japan¡¯s population shrinks
Many rural banks are struggling, but for a small credit union in Hokkaido, the situation is extreme.
Yoshitsugu Toba, head of the markets division at Joyo Bank, says he expects the next Bank of Japan rate hike will happen in April, followed by 25 basis-point increases roughly every six months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 2, 2026
Short-term Japan bonds hold allure for regional bank managing ?2.6 trillion
Joyo Bank is testing the country¡¯s choppy bond market by investing in shorter-term notes to secure higher returns, while avoiding longer-dated securities.
Japanese banks, including Mizuho Financial Group, are trying to boost productivity by adopting artificial intelligence while trying to ease concerns that the technology will take away jobs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2026
Mizuho plans to replace 5,000 clerical jobs with AI in 10 years
Japan¡¯s third-largest lender insists the move is ¡°not a headcount reduction.¡±
There have been a series of insider trading cases in Japan in recent years involving employees across the financial industry.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2026
Mizuho Securities reportedly faces probe for insider trading
The revelations are the latest to potentially undermine confidence in Japan¡¯s financial industry at a time when the stock market is booming.
Fumitaka Nakahama, head of global corporate and investment banking at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2026
MUFG eyes piece of AI boom with hiring for data center financing
Financing AI initiatives is becoming a lucrative business for banks worldwide.
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.
Jehovah's Witnesses followers sue Japanese government
According to court records, the plaintiffs include the Japanese branch of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Debt-laden Japan should review spending on gender equality, survey finds
A woman holds a handheld fan bearing the image of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's wedding photo, during an election campaign event in Tokyo on Feb. 7.
Japanese researchers look at 800-year-old books and trees for signs of extreme solar events
A drawing of Fujiwara no Teika, known as a courtier, <i>waka</i> poet and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods
Japan freezes visa applications for foreign restaurant workers
Filipinos with specified skills qualifications learn how to prepare fish for sushi in Tokyo in 2022.
At Ueno Station, ¡®Freedom¡¯ restored
¡°Freedom,¡± a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
As Tokyo&#039;s public bathhouses age, many are embracing more contemporary aesthetics to stay relevant for a younger class of customer.
At Ueno Station, ¡®Freedom¡¯ restored
¡°Freedom,¡± a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
Inside Iizukatei, a 200-year-old home turned boutique hotel in Tochigi
Recognized as a tangible cultural property in 2003, the former residence of the Iizuka family is now a boutique hotel in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture.
Tokyo¡¯s sake calendar is filled to the brim
The recently concluded Sake Park invited younger brewers to make sake more approachable for attendees in their 20s and 30s.
Japan¡¯s tighter immigration controls yielding results
An immigration control passport stamp issued in Japan. A surge in arrivals from overseas has coincided with a tightening of immigration controls under a government initiative aimed at reducing overstayers.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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