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February 04, 2025
 

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Hideki Suzuki
MUFG virtually reached its full-year profit goal with a quarter to spare, earning a record ¥1.749 trillion in the first nine months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025
MUFG profit soars in bumper earnings season for Japan banks
Japanese banks are benefiting from rising interest rates following more than a decade of ultra-easy monetary policy.
Japanese banks are enjoying bumper earnings as they begin to benefit from rising interest rates following more than a decade of ultraeasy monetary policy.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui profit beats estimates as rate hikes bolster earnings
Net income at Japan’s second-largest bank rose 54% from a year earlier to ¥410.8 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, calculations show.
KKR is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025
KKR considers joining Seven & I management buyout after Apollo
The U.S. firm is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
Apollo Global Management is discussing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion for an equity stake in a bid by Seven & I’s founding Ito family to take the convenience store operator private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025
Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout
Under the current proposal, Apollo would join the Ito family and Itochu, the operator of FamilyMart in Japan, as key investors.
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024
Mizuho CEO sees global boom in M&A after Trump takes office
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
Bain Capital plans to pay ¥9,600 a share for Fuji Soft, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2024
Bain raises offer for Fuji Soft in $4.3 billion contest with KKR
The Boston-based investment firm plans to pay ¥9,600 a share for Fuji Soft, it said in a statement.
Itochu has tapped Daiwa Securities Group and the founding Ito family has hired SMBC Nikko Securities as financial advisers for their ¥9 trillion ($58.4 billion) proposal to take Seven & I Holdings private, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Nomura, Daiwa and other advisers win coveted Seven & I buyout roles
The multitude of financial advisers reflects the complexity of any potential buyout, as well as the lucrative fees if consummated.
Mizuho Financial CEO Masahiro Kihara during a news conference in Tokyo on Nov. 14
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024
Japan’s biggest banks raise profit goals, unveil buybacks
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group now project a combined ¥3.7 trillion ($24 billion) in profit this fiscal year.
For Seven Bank, greater independence from its parent Seven & I Holdings could lead to new growth opportunities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024
Seven Bank seeks to expand cash-machine network beyond 7-Elevens
Deconsolidation from Seven & I resulting from a reduction of its stake in Seven Bank would make such a scenario more possible.
Yasushi Itagaki, head of MUFG’s global commercial banking business, says the banking group aims to push up its buyouts and investment in India, and increase annual returns from them to 20% in 10 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024
MUFG seeks acquisitions in India to drive growth, targeting 20% returns
Japan's largest lender is competing with a slew of global peers to expand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Seven & I Holdings' 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024
Seven & I is said to plan reducing stake in banking unit to 38%
The retailer’s 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
Yokohama-based Fuji Soft held a board meeting on Friday and decided to stick with KKR’s tender for its shares despite receiving a higher bid from Bain Capital.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2024
Fuji Soft sticks with KKR despite higher takeover offer from Bain
The special committee advising Fuji Soft said it would be difficult for Bain to take the company private, according to a statement.
To lessen the impact from any shocks, including a U.S. economic slump, Mizuho has been buying Treasurys and other assets that are easier to sell or hedge against price falls.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2024
Mizuho choosing liquid assets, bracing for risk of failed U.S. soft landing
Market participants appear overconfident that U.S. policymakers will be able to tame inflation without causing a recession, the bank's co-head of global markets has said.
For years, Seven & I has faced calls from investors to focus more on its convenience-store business.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2024
7-Eleven owner seeking to sell off part of stake in banking unit
The sale of part of its stake in Seven Bank would intend to show Seven & I Holdings is willing to focus more on its core 7-Eleven business.
Masahiko Kato, president and chief executive officer of Mizuho Bank
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Mizuho seeks to back more strategic deals by Japan’s mid-caps
Though companies such as automakers grab the attention of global investors, smaller firms dominate in terms of the number of companies in Japan.
Japan's banks are benefiting from the Bank of Japan's policy shift and strong loan demand among their corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Japan’s biggest banks forecast record profits as rates rise
The banks are benefiting from an earnings boost following the Bank of Japan’s policy shift in March.
Kioxia Holdings plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as October.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2024
Kioxia plans to list as early as October as merger talks stall
Kioxia faces a June deadline to refinance as much as ¥900 billion worth of loans, and a public listing will help its negotiations with banks.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it is already managing to enhance its tolerance to an anticipated rise in yen interest rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2024
Japan’s biggest bank readies for BOJ shift on rate policy within weeks
Hiroyuki Seki, head of global markets business at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, predicts that the BOJ will raise rates not once but twice by October.
Toru Nakashima, CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, says he is considering an expansion of the bank’s alliance with Jefferies Financial Group into Asia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024
Sumitomo Mitsui may expand Jefferies pact into Asia amid focus overseas
The partners won more than 30 deals since expanding their tie-up last year, in which Sumitomo Mitsui agreed to triple its stake in the U.S. bank.
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.
Residents near Japan sinkhole urged to evacuate
Rescuers on Thursday continue to try and free a truck driver after his vehicle plunged into a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, earlier in the week.
Crashed U.S. Army Black Hawk unit was responsible for doomsday readiness
A U.S. Coast Guard vessel attempts to retrieve the remains of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Friday after it crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier in the week.
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
LDP conservatives frustrated by Ishiba's diplomacy with China
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a Lower House plenary session last week.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
At the new Ginza Sony Park, listening is an art form
In addition to the commercial benefits from Ginza Sony Park's music-centered exhibition — such as promoting Sony's artists and products — there is a real effort to put music in focus.
Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
First official survey set to change backcountry Hokkaido skiing
The first official government survey of Hokkaido backcountry skiing could spell changes for trails in the northern prefecture.
Fuji TV’s go-big PR strategy wins grudging praise globally
Fuji TV executives take questions during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo in which some participants became unruly.

Podcast

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

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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