FinCity.tokyo

Updates from Tokyo’s expanding finance and startup ecosystem and the 54 members of FinCity.Tokyo.

Special Interview:Hiroshi Nakaso, Chairman of FinCity.Tokyo

In this special interview, Hiroshi Nakaso, Chairman of FinCity.Tokyo, outlines where he sees Japan and Tokyo in the current global context and his vision for Tokyo as a financial hub.

Read the full interview here

Introducing Our Directors

Interview: Bridging Japan and the World in Finance and Asset Management

Yoshio Hishida, Executive Officer and Global Asset Management Officer (GAMO) of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, shares his thoughts on how to strengthen Japan’s attractiveness to international finance and investment.

Read the full interview here

Events

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike attends FII PRIORITY Asia Summit 2025

On December 1, Governor Yuriko Koike spoke at the FII PRIORITY Asia Summit 2025, extolling the strengths of Tokyo as a financial and innovation hub to an audience of leaders from government, business, investment, technology, and civil society. The two-day FII PRIORITY Asia Summit gathered over 1,200 global leaders, policymakers, CEOs, investors, and innovators to examine how Japan and the Asian region are shaping global trajectories in economy, diplomacy and technology.

Read the Governor’s full speech here

 

8th Jazz EMP@ Tokyo Financial Street 2025

On December 7, Tokyo’s Kabuto-cho area became the stage for the 8th Jazz EMP@ Tokyo Financial Street 2025, an afternoon full of virtuoso performances from emerging jazz talent and talk sessions.
The birthplace of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and many well-known Japanese firms, Kabuto-cho has been known since the Meiji Era not only as the “city of finance and securities” but also “the city of beginnings.”
Just like financial hubs, jazz thrives on collaboration and fusion of different talents, and through the Emerging Musicians Program (EMP) Tokyo is dedicated to nurturing up-and-coming jazz musicians and help them thrive on the global stage.

More on the Jazz EMP (in Japanese)

KEY STORIES IN JAPANESE MEDIA

• Household financial assets reach record high of 2,286 trillion yen as of end-September 2025, driven by rising stock prices (12/17, Nikkei)
  According to preliminary flow of funds statistics for July–September 2025 released by the Bank of Japan on the 17th, household financial assets reached a record 2,286 trillion yen at the end of September 2025, up 4.9% year-on-year. The inflow of funds via the new NISA (tax-free minor investment program) continues to support this positive momentum.

   

• Doyukai’s next chair Akio Yamaguchi, an IBM Japan executive with advanced AI expertise (12/16, Mainichi)

  On the 16th, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) officially nominated Akio Yamaguchi, currently vice chair and president of IBM Japan, as its next chair. Yamaguchi has extensive experience as a systems engineer for financial institutions at IBM Japan and is well-versed in advanced technologies including generative AI. Keizai Doyukai is one of Japan’s three major business organizations, alongside Keidanren and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

   

• [Editorial] Tankan shows momentum for continuing wage hikes (12/15, Nikkei)
  The Bank of Japan’s December Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises) released on the 15th indicates improving business sentiment and suggests continued momentum for active wage increases heading into the 2026 annual labor negotiations. The business conditions index for large manufacturers improved one point to +15 from the previous September survey, marking a third consecutive quarter of improvement and reaching its highest level in four years.

KEY STORIES IN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

• Japan business mood hits 4-year high, keeps alive BOJ rate-hike view (12/15, Reuters)

  Big Japanese manufacturers’ business sentiment hit a four-year high in the three months to December. The headline index measuring big manufacturers’ business confidence stood at +15 in December, the BOJ’s “tankan” survey showed, up from +14 in September and matching a median market forecast.

   

• Bank of Japan governor says economy has weathered Donald Trump’s tariffs (12/9, Financial Times)
  Fears that US tariffs would hammer the Japanese economy had made the BoJ cautious on rate rises earlier this year, but the Bank of Japan’s Governor Ueda said the impact of the levies had been less than expected. “So far, US corporates have swallowed the burden of tariffs without fully passing [them] through to consumer prices,” he said. On the Japanese side, Ueda said car exporters have cut prices to absorb the tariffs, which had “stabilised the volume of auto exports” and avoided unemployment in Japan. 

   

• Japan IPOs Raise $8 Billion in 2025, Reaching a Seven-Year High (12/9, Bloomberg)
  Initial public offerings in Japan in 2025 raised the most capital in seven years as companies like JX Advanced Metals Corp. and SBI Shinsei Bank Ltd. sold shares in billion-dollar deals, underscoring a boom in Asia’s equity markets. The amount raised reached ¥1.2 trillion ($7.7 billion), the highest volume since 2018, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

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