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July 24, 2026
 

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Nao Sano
Daiwa Asset Management President Kei Sano sees institutional investors such as pension funds and universities as a potential new target market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2026
Daiwa AM boosts staff in shift toward institutional investors
The company will seek new clients including those from public and corporate pension funds, as well as endowments and foundations of universities.
Government Pension Investment Fund, which held more than ?293 trillion in investment assets as of the fiscal year ended March 31, has been dividing up its holdings by about 25% each into domestic and foreign stocks and bonds.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2026
GPIF makes first direct private equity investment amid allocation bets
The pension fund, one of the world¡¯s biggest, is putting ?20 billion into a 10-year fund run by Japanese private quity firm Advantage Partners.
Evening commuters in front of Tokyo station.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 11, 2026
Japan¡¯s top pension fund likely to brush off political pressure
The Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the world¡¯s largest, will likely ignore the finance minister¡¯s call to boost domestic investment, at least in the short run.
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan¡¯s largest life insurer, wrote down ?70 billion ($440 million) in the year ended March 31.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2026
Nippon Life books its first impairment loss in current bond rout
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan¡¯s largest life insurer, wrote down ?70 billion ($440 million) in the year ended March 31.
Daiichi Life Group believes strict selection of managers and risk management after making private credit investments are key.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2026
Daiichi Life to tighten private credit manager selection on risk
Bankruptcies of corporate borrowers in the U.S. have fueled concern about putting cash in the market, and the worries are starting to affect Japanese firms¡¯ investment decisions.
Yuri Okina, tapped to lead the Government Pension Investment Fund¡¯s key management committee, left the Bank of Japan for the Japan Research Institute in 1992 and earned a doctorate in economics from Kyoto University in 2011.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2026
Female economist to lead key panel at Japan¡¯s GPIF in a first
Yuri Okina will start her five-year term as the chair of the GPIF¡¯s 10-person management committee panel on April 1.
Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Tokio Marine Holdings underscores the company's growing ambitions in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 24, 2026
Berkshire Hathaway to invest $1.8 billion in Tokio Marine
National Indemnity Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, will make a 2.49% strategic investment in Tokio Marine, underscoring Berkshire¡¯s growing ambitions in Japan.
Sumitomo Life Insurance¡¯s headquarters in Osaka
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 18, 2026
Sumitomo Life plans to invest $1.9 billion in private credit
The Osaka-based insurer has been gradually increasing its private credit holdings.
The Nippon Life Insurance headquarters in Osaka. Japan's major life insurers are continuing plans to increase private credit investment in the next fiscal year from April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2026
Japan insurers still keen on private debt amid growing red flags
Life insurance companies have joined global investors in a private debt market binge in search of higher yields.
Former Government Pension Investment Fund President Masataka Miyazono joined Hulic last year as an adviser to focus on agricultural investments as the sector faces a rapidly aging and shrinking workforce.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2026
Former chief of $2 trillion pension fund joins developer growing tomatoes
Masataka Miyazono aims to help make Japan¡¯s agricultural sector more productive in order to boost sustainability in the country.
Japan Post Insurance CEO and President Kunio Tanigaki
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2026
Japan Post Insurance to shift to high-yield bonds, CEO says
The life insurer expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates again as soon as April.
The country¡¯s biggest insurers are sitting on swelling paper losses on their holdings of Japanese government bonds, which have slumped as the central bank raises interest rates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2026
Accounting group seeks to ease rules on Japanese insurers¡¯ bond losses
Bonds held by life insurers to match long-term policies would be treated as held to maturity if certain conditions are met, and would not be subject to impairment accounting.
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.
Expectations Japan's superlong bond yields will rise further as the government boosts spending have kept life insurers away from bond buying.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2026
Japan¡¯s midsize insurers hold back from bond buys anticipating rebound
The bonds are usually major investment targets to match insurers¡¯ long-term liabilities, but expectations yields will rise further amid government spending have slowed buying.
Sompo Holdings intends to ¡°invest broadly in credit assets that offer high profitability and different risk-return characteristics,¡± the general manager of Sompo¡¯s investment management department said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2026
Japanese insurer Sompo to ramp up overseas credit investments
The Tokyo-based company moved several investment managers from its Japan insurance subsidiary to work in the U.S. from this month.
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.
Nomura Asset Management President Hiroyasu Koike says expanding staff with overseas business experience will strengthen the firm¡¯s position as a global asset-managing competitor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2025
Nomura sends bankers to New York and London in asset manager push
More staff with overseas business experience will boost Nomura¡¯s stance as a global competitor in asset management, company president Hiroyasu Koike said.
Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, aims to launch a new fund in January with a size of several billion yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2025
MUFG¡¯s asset manager targets Japan buyers for its first CLO fund
The securities, which are bundled leveraged debt, will mainly hold dollar-denominated floating-rate loans made to U.S. companies.
Nomura Asset Management has formed a team made up of retired workers to help clients invest their pension funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 21, 2025
Nomura Asset¡¯s new retirement solutions team consists of retirees themselves
Team leader Koji Nakamura says having employees who have actually experienced retirement allows the asset manager to better identify customer needs.
Takahiro Kobayashi, the new CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, says the firm is aiming to become one of the top three managers of Japanese mutual funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust¡¯s fund manager targets top-three ranking
The firm is shooting for the higher ranking by driving up two of its funds¡¯ total assets to more than ?1 trillion each.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.
Maya Ongaku¡¯s DIY dream is getting bigger
The members of Maya Ongaku ¡ª (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano ¡ª grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.

Podcast

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

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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