SBI Shinsei Bank, a unit of SBI Holdings plans to file as early as next month for a relisting on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. The bank, which aims to go public again by the end of the year, would follow a series of sizeable listings in Japan over the past year as companies look to capitalise on market momentum that has seen the Nikkei share average trade near record highs. Relisting the mid-sized lender has been a target for Yoshitaka Kitao, the CEO of SBI, a financial conglomerate whose businesses span banking, asset management, technology and cryptocurrency.

Bank of Japan officials are ramping up calls to keep pace with rapid developments around digital currencies that may accelerate a shift to cashless payments in a country better known for its belief that "cash is king," Reuters reported. Once seen as a society favouring physical currency, Japan saw the ratio of cashless payments rise to 42.8% in 2024, up from 13.2% in 2010 and hitting the government's 40% goal a year earlier than targeted, government data showed.

Marelli Holdings, a Japanese auto parts supplier owned by private equity firm KKR, is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday, according to Reuters. Marelli, a key supplier to embattled Japanese automaker Nissan Motor, is looking into the chapter 11 option to ensure its business operations won't be halted even if its restructuring talks with creditors fall through.

The Japanese economy shrank less than initially estimated in the first quarter but remains at risk of technical recession, which could delay the Bank of Japan’s timeline for raising interest rates, the Wall Street Journal reported. Real gross domestic product contracted 0.2% on an annualized basis in the January-March period, government data showed Monday. That compares with the 0.7% decline in the preliminary estimate. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, Japan’s GDP was nearly flat.

A record number of curry shops in Japan went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved dishes took a hit from soaring rice prices, Bloomberg News reported. Thirteen curry shops with more than ¥10 million ($70,000) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year, according to a report from Tokyo-based research firm Teikoku Databank. The total number of bankruptcies is likely to be much higher when considering smaller mom-and-pop shops, the firm said.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the country's economy can withstand the hit from U.S. tariffs and sustain a cycle of rising inflation accompanied by wage growth, signalling the bank's readiness to raise interest rates further, Reuters reported. Uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and the range of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration could hurt Japan's exports, prod firms to delay capital expenditure plans, and discourage them from raising wages, Ueda said on Tuesday. While an agreement between the U.S.

Japan, which has the highest government debt among leading economies, is finding it difficult to spend like it used to, the New York Times reported. Debt-fueled public spending, enabled by low interest rates, has long been a way to address the country’s problems. Struggling farmers and emptying countrysides received generous payments from the central government. Relief aid during the Covid-19 pandemic morphed into new outlays for defense and subsidies to help consumers weather inflation.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed determination Thursday to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work on expanding the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over U.S. tariffs, the Associated Press reported. “High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity," Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo. “A prosperity built on sacrifices by someone or another country will not make a strong economy.” Japan seeks to work with the U.S.

Japan has joined a growing list of nations, including Spain and Canada, that are assembling aid plans to help blunt the domestic impact of President Trump’s tariffs, the New York Times reported. On Tuesday, Japan approved a $6.3 billion spending package to “fully support” businesses and households adversely affected by the tariffs, Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a briefing. The funds will bolster the finances of small and medium-sized businesses and subsidize household energy costs, he said.

The Bank of Japan must be vigilant to the risk rising food prices could push up underlying inflation that is already near its 2% target, Governor Kazuo Ueda said, signaling the central bank's readiness to continue its rate hikes, Reuters reported. The BOJ keeps interest rates low as inflation expectations, or the public's perception on future price moves, stand between 1.5% and 2% - the highest in 30 years though still below its 2% target, Ueda said in a speech at a BOJ-hosted conference.