New rules from a major Japanese financial industry group to encourage transparency in the corporate bond market took effect this year, with the first debt sales under the guidelines set for Friday, Bloomberg News reported. Japan Securities Dealers Association--which comprises about 500 securities firms, banks, and other financial institutions--put the rules into force on Jan. 1. They require banks underwriting bond deals of over 10 billion yen ($97 million) to disclose to issuers the names and order sizes of major buyers and any investors who bought 1 billion yen or more.

The authorities in Tokyo requested on Monday that restaurants and bars close by 8 p.m. to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, an announcement that came after the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, said that the central government would consider declaring a state of emergency in the capital and in three surrounding prefectures for the first time since April, the New York Times reported.

Japan’s government in December cut its view on consumption for the first time in three months, and said overall economic conditions were still severe due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Authorities said the world’s third-largest economy is facing increased risks from a resurgence in COVID-19 cases at home and abroad, leading to an outlook downgrade though those remained underpinned by hopes for an economic rebound.

Japan should consider creating a safety net for companies that may need help surviving the hit from the coronavirus pandemic, such as airlines and transportation firms, said Heizo Takenaka, a close aide to premier Yoshihide Suga, Reuters reported. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) also may need to support financial institutions if they suffer huge losses from big bailouts, said Takenaka, who as economic minister battled Japan’s domestic banking crisis in the late 1990s.

Japan’s bankers celebrated the end of the 1980s with raucous parties and an all-time high of 38,957 on the Nikkei stock index, the Financial Times reported. It had been a magnificent decade and they all looked forward to another one. The economy had grown by an average of 4 per cent a year and seemed well set to continue on a similar path. By 1995, forecast Nomura Securities, the Nikkei index would hit 63,700. It was a thrilling, golden era. Foreign officials, financiers and journalists rushed to Tokyo. Everyone wanted to learn the lessons of Japan. They still do.

Sixty-year-old Yashiro Haga is folding his Tokyo noodle ramen shop after 15 years in December, unable to overcome the prospect of a lasting customer slump due to the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. “The flow of people has changed due to the coronavirus,” Haga said, standing behind the counter of his ground-floor shop, Shirohachi.

Japan's Nissan Motor Co is struggling to revive a fortune that was weakened by scandal and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The automaker warned in July of a record 470 billion yen (3.36 billion pounds) operating loss for the year to March 2021 and its lowest sales in a decade, as global auto sales slumped. Both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global rate Nissan’s debt at Baa3 and BBB-, respectively, one step above non-investment grade. Both agencies have negative outlooks on the debt.

Japan Airlines Co. fell the most on record after saying it will raise as much as 168 billion yen ($1.6 billion) by selling new shares to support its finances during the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The shares dropped over 15% in early trading Monday, the steepest decline on record. They were down 11% at 2:12 p.m. in Tokyo. The stock has plunged more than 50% this year. “Much is still unclear” about the airline’s plans, said Kotaro Toriumi, an independent analyst.

ANA Holdings Inc. forecast its biggest-ever operating loss of 505 billion yen ($4.8 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2021, the latest airline to face an existential threat to its business due to the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported.…The outlook issued by ANA calls for a wider full-year loss than the 376 billion yen analysts were projecting on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. ANA also forecast 740 billion yen in revenue for the fiscal year through March, compared with analysts’ average prediction for 926 billion yen.

Japan’s banking system remains stable as a whole and has sufficient buffers against risks, the central bank said in a semi-annual report, voicing confidence that domestic financial institutions can withstand the hit from the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. But the Bank of Japan warned that commercial banks were vulnerable to various risks including rising credit costs, as loans to pandemic-hit sectors like property developers may sour.