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November 21, 2024
 

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Ayai Tomisawa
Nissan and its group firms have about $1.6 billion of debt due next year, a slight decrease from 2024, but that figure will jump to around $5.6 billion in 2026, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2024
Nissan faces record debt bill with one year left to fix finances
The automaker and its group firms are seen having about $5.6 billion in debt due in 2026.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the largest foreign issuer of yen bonds this year, raising a record ¥545.1 billion.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 10, 2024
Berkshire issues bonds worth ¥282 billion, sparking Japan investment hopes
The seven-part bond deal is Berkshire’s biggest yen-denominated deal since 2019, and makes it the largest foreign issuer of yen bonds this year.
Japanese firms’ issuance of dollar bonds has surged 60% so far in the fiscal year that started in April, as they target a larger investor base away from the home market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024
Japan firms rush past global peers in hunt for dollar funds
The rush highlights the changes issuers and investors face as the U.S. Federal Reserve eases rates while the Bank of Japan heads in the opposite direction.
Sumitomo Chemical President Keiichi Iwata
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 6, 2024
Sumitomo Chemical sells hybrid bond at widest spread this year
Sumitomo Chemical priced ¥100 billion of hybrid debt at 280 basis points over Japanese government bonds.
A working group led by the Japan Securities Dealers Association finished a series of monthly meetings in June that discussed details of applying covenants to local corporate notes with lower ratings.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan pushes for greater use of protections on corporate bonds
A Japan Securities Dealers Association working group finished meetings in June on adding covenants to lower-rated corporate notes.
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group repeatedly violated its clients’ confidentiality by breaking firewalls among its units.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2024
MUFG unit misses out on arranging flurry of bonds in wake of scandal
The Development Bank of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and NEC dropped MUMSS from arranging planned bond deals.
Suntory Holdings, seeking to expand abroad, is tapping the dollar debt market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Whiskey maker Suntory sells $500 million bond in rare deal
Proceeds from the Jim Beam owner’s five-year note will be used for general corporate purposes.
Foreign private credit funds are focusing on Japanese investors as they move more money into higher-paying assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024
Private credit chases Japan’s trillions as inflation spurs shift
Private credit funds are betting that inflation will prompt investors to channel more money into riskier overseas investments.
Berkshire Hathaway's latest yen debt deal is the biggest since its debut sale in the currency in 2019, raising bets it may boost holdings of Japanese stocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2024
Berkshire sells ¥263.3 billion of bonds in its biggest yen debt deal since 2019
The seven-tranche deal priced at tighter premiums than Berkshire’s deals over the past two years.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to sell yen bonds after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2024
Berkshire plans to sell first yen bonds since BOJ move
The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ¥122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal.
Nissan’s name has been removed from a list of around 44,000 companies eligible for the tax incentive on the economy ministry’s website.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 6, 2024
Nissan ineligible for tax break after underpaying firms: report
Nissan’s name has been removed from a list of companies eligible for the tax incentive on the economy ministry’s website, the Yomiuri Shimbum said.
A record number of Japanese investors have put their money into domestic private credit deals in search of higher returns this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023
Private credit is attracting record numbers of Japanese investors
An unprecedented 236 limited partners have provided money to private capital managers this year through September, more than triple the level of 2017.
There is a sense of caution in the credit market that the Bank of Japan will finally tighten its ultraeasy policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2023
Turmoil from BOJ policy bets shakes up Japan credit market
Companies rush to raise money to take advantage of low rates while they still can but investor demand for corporate bonds is weakening.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold yen bonds at lower costs in its second Japan deal of the year as speculation mounts that the billionaire investor may put more money into the nation’s share market.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 17, 2023
Berkshire sells yen debt amid talk it’s eyeing more Japan stocks
Berkshire is one of the largest overseas issuers of yen debt, and 32 out of its past 40 bond deals have been in the Japanese currency.
Many of the wealthy in Japan are becoming more keen to park their cash in private assets like equity, credit and real estate that aren't traded in public markets.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2023
Brokers tap demand for private assets among Japan's wealthy
Private assets are booming globally after decades-high inflation and rapid interest-rate hikes weighed on both shares and bonds.
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.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 7, 2023
Rakuten’s ¥1.8 trillion debt fuels concern despite funding
The e-commerce giant has racked up four years of losses as its mobile-phone business drains cash.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2023
MUFG raises ¥570 billion in biggest bond deal this year with bumper coupon
The lender's coupon of 2.127% on the perpetual noncallable 10-year and one-month Additional Tier 1 bonds is the highest on such notes for the bank since 2015.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 16, 2023
Japanese firms turn to loans for longer-term funding amid BOJ risks
Anecdotal evidence suggests Japanese loan rates are now more favorable than the cost of selling long-tenor bonds for capital investment and refinancing needs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2022
E-commerce giant Rakuten cut further into junk territory by S&P
The group's long-term rating was lowered to BB from BB+ because of 'slow improvement in its mobile business,' the ratings firm said.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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