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July 01, 2026
 

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FSA

Japan is home to 27 registered crypto exchange providers, including BitFlyer.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2026
Japan moves to regulate crypto like stocks in market growth push
The bill would classify crypto assets as financial instruments, making them subject to lower taxes and stricter trading rules and opening the door to new products like ETFs.
For joint investments with government-backed financial institutions, the Financial Services Agency says it will allow banks to build a lower amount of capital than the levels required as a buffer against potential losses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2026
Japan to ease bank capital adequacy requirements
The aim of the Financial Services Agency’s measure is to encourage public-private funding and supporting small regional companies, including startups.
Tatsufumi Shibata, senior official at the Financial Services Agency, says Japanese firms should spend more of their cash on long-term business investment instead of rewarding shareholders.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2026
Japan regulator urges firms to use cash for growth, not returns
Shifting more of the country’s wealth held by businesses and households to fund expansion is a key pillar of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s economic revitalization effort.
The plan is meant to improve customer convenience as well as reduce the workload of bank employees, with banks tending to be understaffed, especially in rural areas.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 8, 2026
FSA to develop AI agent to help with customer service at regional banks
The aim is to improve customer convenience as well as reduce the workload of bank employees, with banks tending to be understaffed, especially in rural areas.
Employees on loan to Toyota from three major Japanese nonlife insurers, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, took out company information without permission.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
Three nonlife insurers fraudulently take out information from Toyota
The acts by the employees of the insurers may amount to violations of the personal information protection law or the unfair competition prevention law.
Women walk under a sign of the Financial Services Agency in Tokyo. By conditionally easing capital adequacy regulations for banks, the FSA aims to promote industrial reorganization and support startups and midsize companies in rural areas.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2026
FSA to ease bank capital rules to promote investment
The plan is to reduce capital buffers against loss risks while still maintaining fiscal soundness, informed sources said Friday.
The government is planning a new revision to corporate governance code, which might prompt companies to divert unused cash to higher-yielding returns, thus making Japanese stocks more attractive to investors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2026
Drive to unlock $840 billion in cash lifts Japan stocks outlook
Despite significant improvement in corporate governance in recent years, mountains of unused cash have been piling up on Japanese company balance sheets.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, during the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong, China, in August. Japanese policymakers are taking a more positive view of crypto as U.S. President Donald Trump’s embrace of the assets bolsters the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Japan’s FSA may allow banks to invest in crypto assets if risks are managed
The Financial Services Agency is also considering allowing banking groups to apply for licenses to operate cryptoexchanges, according to a source.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, will screen government agencies and ministries' requests for tax reform at their respective tax panels, aiming to draw up guidelines later this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2025
Government agencies draw up fiscal year 2026 tax reform requests
The ruling coalition will screen the requests, aiming to draw up late this year tax reform guidelines for the fiscal year starting next April.
The Financial Services Agency plans to expand Japan's Nippon Individual Savings Account tax exemption program for small investments, with a focus on supporting families with children.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2025
Financial Services Agency eyeing NISA expansion to support child-rearing
The FSA will call for a revision of the age limit for installment-type investments under the NISA program.
The Financial Services Agency Commissioner Yutaka Ito is interviewed in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 10, 2025
FSA eager to back regional bank realignment
Ito, who took office in July, stressed that cooperation with nonfinancial businesses is also crucial for the management of regional lenders.
Japanese officials made a similar call in March to China to expand a program allowing certain mainland investors to put more money abroad when they held a high-level economic dialogue in Tokyo with their Chinese counterparts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Japan official urges China to expand foreign investment quota
China has been easing its strict controls over capital outflows in recent years.
The Financial Services Agency headquarters in Tokyo. The regulator has called on regional banks to disclose the amount and market value of their high-yield loans backed by government bonds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Regulator to ramp up scrutiny of banks’ repackaged JGBs
A senior official at the Financial Services Agency called on lenders to disclose the amount and market value of their holdings, sources said.
Online brokerage accounts are being taken over through the use of malware, phishing and other techniques.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 9, 2025
Online brokerage account hijackings continue in Japan
In May, over 2,000 unauthorized transactions were logged by the Financial Services Agency.
From January to May, a total of 5,958 illegal online financial transactions were made via hijacked securities accounts, according to the Financial Services Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025
Financial transactions via hijacked accounts top ¥500B in January-May
A total of 16 securities companies are affected by the hijackings.
The cover-up is believed to have started in 2004 or even earlier, according to the government's Tohoku Local Finance Bureau and the Financial Services Agency.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025
Japan lender receives business improvement order following cover-up
Former executives of the cooperative concealed fraudulent corporate loans, including through the accounts of depositors opened without their consent.
Hackers are believed to be taking control of brokerage accounts in Japan to manipulate stock prices, with reported cases rising at an alarming rate between January and April.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 9, 2025
FSA reports about ¥300B in illicit online trading from January to April
The number of unauthorized access cases soared from just 65 at the start of the year to 4,852 last month.
A former Prudential Life Insurance employee was arrested in June last year on suspicion of fraud.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025
Prudential Life ordered to report preventative measures after three arrests
Between June last year and February this year, three former employees were arrested over acts of misconduct that included defrauding customers.
Foreign residents who fail to renew their residential statuses before their expiry may find that they won’t be able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2025
Banks freeze withdrawals for foreign nationals upon expiration of visas
The move is part of a government initiative to combat scams and fraud, the Financial Services Agency says.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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