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Japan FinTech Observer #141

Norbert Gehrke

Norbert Gehrke

— 10 min read
Japan FinTech Observer #141

Welcome to the one hundred forty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer.

Last week, we were delighted to participate in the "ICT & FinTech Mission to Tallinn" this past week, courtesy of EIS | Enterprise Estonia. As we are settling down back home, we are iteratively reporting on the very insightful discussions on the FinTech Observer website.

While we were away, the expectations for the next Bank of Japan policy rate raise have decisively moved to December given Ueda's comments at the beginning of the week. Those who are parsing through the language with a fine comb noticed that his statement was not quite as final as Himino's prior to the January rate hike, but this nuance got lost. Being the only G10 central bank that has raised rates this year, the markets are convinced the BOJ will move the policy rate to 0.75% on December 19.

Lastly, the Financial Services Agency has published its annual report for the FY2024 administrative year. At 400+ pages, it provides comprehensive insights into the operations of our regulator. We offer a compressed version.

Here is what we are going to cover this week:

  • Venture Capital & Private Markets: Pie Systems has raised a total of $15.5 million (approximately ¥2.3 billion) in its Series A funding round; Mujin raises US$ 233m to accelerate global growth and drive the future of intelligent automation; micromobility sharing company Luup Raises JPY 4.4bn in total funding; Mizuho Capital participates in LUC Corporation's 120 million yen Pre-Series A funding round; FSA & METI roundtable on growth funding for startups
  • Insurance: Manulife reaches agreement to sell MVI Life in Vietnam to Asahi Life
  • Banking: draft report of the Financial System Council's Working Group on Strengthening Regional Financial Capabilities; Snowflake Industry Days - data fabric implementation and governance at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group; Mizuho releases Generative AI-powered platform "Wiz Base" for sales support
  • Payments: NETSTARS supports QNB Group in becoming the first bank in GCC to accept WeChat Pay e-commerce; Filipinos in Japan can now directly send remittances to their loved ones' GCash accounts
  • Capital Markets: Nomura and World Vision Japan to develop credit scheme through Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism; the Bank of Japan selects Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank as ETF sales agent
  • Asset Management: Ambit Global Private Client cements market leadership with strategic investment from Daiwa Securities Group; ABCash Technologies is beginning a collaboration with the investment trust service "mattoco+ (Mattoco Plus)"
  • Digital Assets: Nomura issues security tokens backed by domestic VC fund beneficial interest using J-Ships scheme; MUFG to launch tokenized money market fund; First 30 billion yen scale, high-grade office security token collaboration for "ALTERNA"; SBI VC Trade & Sapporo Beer launch brand experience PoC using web3 technology
  • The Last Word: JGB Chartware

Venture Capital & Private Markets

Not FinTech

Reports

  • Roundtable on growth funding for startups: in order to further revitalize the startup ecosystem, it is important for each entity involved in funding startups to share a common understanding of the direction the ecosystem should aim for, further strengthen funding for startups, support their growth, and ensure that the benefits are reaped by each entity involved; to this end, the Financial Services Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) jointly held a Roundtable on Growth Funding for Startups, bringing together the government and various entities that support the provision of funds to startups, and shared recognition regarding the direction and overall picture of the ecosystem that should be aimed for, as well as the efforts of each entity; with 14 different entities presenting, this article consolidates the various status updates and recommendations into one policy proposal
  • PitchBook has published an updated "Japan Private Capital Breakdown 2025"
  • Dell Technologies & Global Invest Her have published a "Tokyo Funding Blueprint"

Insurance

  • Manulife reaches agreement to sell MVI Life in Vietnam to Asahi Life: Manulife Financial Corporation, through its direct subsidiary The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (collectively “Manulife”), has entered into an agreement to sell MVI Life to Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Company (“Asahi Life”); MVI Life, formerly known as Aviva Vietnam, was acquired by Manulife in 2021; since the acquisition, MVI Life has operated independently as a separate life insurance entity, fully distinct from Manulife Vietnam; MVI Life generated insurance premiums of approximately US$ 93 million in 2024 and had net assets of approximately US$ 134 million as of the end of 2024

Banking

  • Draft report of the Financial System Council's Working Group on Strengthening Regional Financial Capabilities: Regional Financial Institutions (RFIs) are the cornerstone of Japan's local economies; as outlined in the "Working Group on Strengthening Regional Financial Capabilities" draft report, their role extends beyond simple financing to become a driving force for regional economic vitality; however, their capacity to fulfill this critical function is under threat from profound structural challenges; persistent population decline, the shrinking scale of regional industries, and an emerging bifurcation in the financial health of RFIs are creating an environment of uncertainty that demands a proactive policy response
  • Snowflake Industry Days - Data fabric implementation and governance at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group: the Snowflake Industry Days 2025 Japan took place in November, with a Financial Services track session featuring Trust Base and the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, titled "Connecting Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group: Implementation and Governance of the Data Fabric Concept"; the presentation highlighted the architectural shift from on-premise, waterfall-based development to a cloud-native, agile methodology; key achievements include the reduction of manual Excel processing, the integration of third-party market data via Snowflake’s marketplace, and the establishment of a governance model that balances "offensive" data utilization with "defensive" data protection
  • Mizuho releases Generative AI-powered platform "Wiz Base" for sales support: Mizuho Financial Group is releasing the generative AI-powered platform "Wiz Base" and will earnestly promote large-scale PoCs (Proof of Concepts) in anticipation of full-scale implementation of AI utilization in the sales support domain; Wiz Base is a platform built by Mizuho on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to operate AI agents; it adopts a multi-LLM configuration that can safely integrate multiple models, including Claude (by Anthropic), using Amazon Bedrock, and is designed based on Mizuho's defined "AI Oriented Architecture (AIOA)"; this realizes a multi-agent system where multiple agents collaborate to perform tasks while ensuring the reliability, auditability, and authority control required of financial institutions
  • MUFG has published its "Transition Whitepaper 2025": One year has passed since the publication of the “MUFG Transition Whitepaper 2024” in September last year, and the international landscape surrounding Carbon Neutral (CN) has undergone unprecedented changes; in Whitepaper 4.0, MUFG examines the rapidly evolving global environment by summarizing CN strategies and investment trends not only in Europe and the United States, but also in China, India, and ASEAN countries
  • SMBC Group has signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Finance concerning cooperation in combating money laundering

Payments

  • NETSTARS supports QNB Group in becoming the first bank in GCC to accept WeChat Pay e-commerce: TSE-listed NETSTARS has supported QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, in successfully becoming the first bank in GCC to enable Weixin Pay e-Commerce acceptance, working closely with Darwish Holding to make this achievement possible; by integrating Weixin’s extensive e-commerce ecosystem into the GCC, this collaboration fosters greater financial inclusivity and drives digital innovation; customers can now enjoy safe, seamless and secured transactions at local merchants, enhancing their overall shopping experience
  • Filipinos in Japan can now directly send remittances to their loved ones' GCash accounts: in a statement, the fintech giant said it has partnered with the operator of the Japanese fund transfer platform PayForex; under the partnership, GCash has been integrated into PayForex, allowing overseas Pinoys to transfer money to the GCash accounts of their families in the Philippines; this means they will no longer need to go to a remittance center to send money home

Capital Markets

Asset Management

Digital Assets

  • Nomura issues security tokens backed by domestic VC fund beneficial interest using J-Ships scheme: Nomura Holdings, Nomura Asset Management, Nomura Trust and Banking, and BOOSTRY have completed issuance procedures for the “Nomura Private Series B Dash Fund 5 Tokenized VC Fund (Transfer-Restricted)”, a private placement security token totaling approximately 8 billion yen; the Fund is Japan’s first security token to invest in venture capital (VC) funds and the first to use the J-Ships framework for professional investors (“Tokutei Toushika”); recordkeeping and transfers of investor’s beneficial interests will be conducted on the consortium blockchain platform “ibet for Fin,” developed and led by BOOSTRY
  • MUFG to launch tokenized money market fund: Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, together with Progmat, will commence collaboration on infrastructure development for a "Tokenized Money Management Fund" as the first step toward developing Japan's first tokenized investment trust; first, MUFG will proceed with preparations aiming to provide Japan's first yen-denominated TMMF to institutional investors in 2026; in the future, MUFG will also consider gradual expansion of target customers and product lineups, including offerings for individual investors
  • First 30 billion yen scale, high-grade office security token collaboration for "ALTERNA": ALTERNA Trust, Mitsui & Co. Digital Asset Management, Daiwa Securities, and Progmat have completed the fundraising and issuance for the security tokenization (ST) of "Mitsui & Co. Group Digital Securities - Nagoya Prime Office - (Transfer Restricted)"; this project marks the first ST issuance for both ALTERNA Trust, which began operations on July 3, 2025, and the "ALTERNA" brand asset management service developed and provided by MDM
  • SBI VC Trade & Sapporo Beer launch brand experience PoC using web3 technology: this campaign commemorates the renewal of "Sapporo Draft Beer Black Label THE BAR," a flagship beer bar opened by Sapporo Beer in 2019 under the concept "The most delicious moment for beer is the first glass of the day"; this initiative represents the "Sapporo Draft Beer Black Label" brand—which continuously pursues the "deliciousness of draft beer" and a unique "sophisticated adult atmosphere"—challenging itself to create new experiential value by utilizing Web3 technology; SBI VC Trade supports this initiative by providing technology including NFT issuance and management

The Last Word: JGB Chartware

Mohamed El-Erian commented: "Despite a solid bond auction, Japanese government bond yields have continued to climb — reaching highs not seen in nearly 20 years. While this rise has added some upward pressure on global yields, the spillover effects remain fairly well contained for now."

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Source: Bloomberg

Bloomberg on the development of 10-year government bond yields across major economies.

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Source: Bloomberg

Bloomberg, as reported in the Financial Times, charting a narrowing yield gap with the US, but a weakening yen.

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Source: Bloomberg (via FT)

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