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A key problem for Japanese government policy relates to developing alternate forms of financing and investment. This study recommends that further development of Japan’s corporate bond market will provide an alternate investment vehicle, though improved access by foreign market participants including borrowers, investors and investment banks is a necessary precondition to the development of this market. Concerted efforts must be made to ease Japanese investors’ excessive aversion to risk, which limits the development of the extensive high-yield markets that exist in the U.S. and are now developing in Europe.

The paper examines the relationship between subordinated debt yield spreads of Japanese banks and bank-specific risk in the Japanese bond market. Subordinated debt issued by banking organizations may enhance the market discipline of banking organizations. In order to give a theoretical explanation for this, the paper develops models that describe how yield spreads of subordinated debt may be related to bank-specific risks and systematic risks. Although the sample size of this study is not large enough to draw an undisputed conclusion, the models tested here find no clear evidence of a positive relationship between subordinated debt premiums and bank-specific risks in the Japanese market. These findings for the Japanese market suggest that in the current environment of the Japanese financial system, issuing subordinated debt is unlikely to improve the prudential supervision of banks with market forces as suggested in the newly proposed Basel Accords.

A cheaper yen gives foreign investors strong incentives to buy Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) of 5 and 10 years under the comprehensive easing policy regime. The purchase of JGBs by foreign investors using a cheaper yen funded on a negative basis in the long-term basis swap market contributes to the declining yield of JGBs under the comprehensive easing policy regime. When the Bank of Japan introduced a quantitative and qualitative easing policy, and then a negative interest rate policy, the trend observed under the comprehensive easing policy changed. This was because long-term basis swap rate tended not to decline under the quantitative and qualitative easing policy and negative interest rate policy regimes in comparison with under the comprehensive easing policy regime.

This study develops an equilibrium model of credit spreads on Japanese yen Eurobonds based on a model proposed by Collin-Dufresne, Goldstein and Martin (2001). We find the asset factor, as proxied by the change in the stock market index, has only a limited effect, while the interest rate factor has the over-riding influence. There is also evidence that currency volatility and changes in the term structure occasionally have an effect on spread behaviour. Analysis over several subperiods, based around key economic events, demonstrates that the relative weight of these explanatory variables change over time.

This study aims to examine to what extent the Japanese financial markets are affected by the four periods of unconventional monetary policies (UMP) implemented by the Bank of Japan from 2013 to 2020.

Using the daily 10-year term spread as a proxy for monetary easing policy, this study uses four sub-sample periods from 2013 to 2020 to look into the effectiveness of UMP on the Japanese financial markets.

Our result shows that not all of the Bank of Japan's unconventional monetary policies are equally effective in influencing the Japanese financial markets. In particular, the QQE policy implemented from April 2013 to October 2014 effectively influenced the stock market, banking sector and foreign exchange market. However, the financial market impact of monetary policy is muted during the QQE expansion period. Likewise, the QQE with a negative interest rate policy influences only the banking sector. Finally, the QQE with its yield curve control policy effectively impacts the financial markets.

This research can be expanded by studying the international spillover effect of the Bank of Japan's UMP on the financial markets in Asian countries.

The findings of this study enable investors to understand the causal relationship between the Bank of Japan's UMP and the financial market indicators, thereby helping them to position their portfolio investments. From the policy perspective, the finding is useful to inform the Bank of Japan on which policy is relatively effective in affecting the financial markets. In light of the empirical finding, the Bank of Japan should continue to pursue the QQE YCCP or revert to the initial QQE policy, as the two policies are relatively more effective than the QQE expansion and QQE NIRP in affecting the Japanese financial markets.

The empirical finding highlights the importance of controlling for the impact of different QQE policies in the model. Future research may consider conducting sub-sample analysis to cater to the different QQE policy regimes. This approach provides a clearer picture and valid inferences on the financial market impact of each QQE policy.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of Bank of Japan's QQE on the Japanese financial markets. For the market participants, the findings of this study suggest that investors should closely gauge the development of the unconventional monetary policies of the Bank of Japan because the monetary easing policy influences the decision-making process of commercial banks, pension funds, mutual funds, retail investors and other stakeholders in the financial markets. The policy twist will have future ramifications for their loan, investment and retirement fund portfolios.

This paper re-examines the relationship between interest rate changes and bank stock returns using the Japanese experience. Specifically, we test the relationship under two different regulatory regimes. During the first regime (1975–1983), there was strict regulation of the financial system and significant oversight of bank activities, whereas the latter regime (1984–1994) represented a period of financial liberalization and interest rate deregulation. The results presented here indicate that interest rate changes negatively affected Japanese bank equity in the post-regulatory period, but not during the period of heavy regulation. Additionally, we also find that most of the short-term rate effects were channeled through volatility proxies while long-term effects were channeled through yield spread and shape effects. These findings represent new and important insights into the relationship between interest rate changes and bank stock returns.

The five-, 10-, and 20-year yields of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) co-move with the six- and 12-month basis swap rates under the quantitative and qualitative easing policy regime introduced by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The 10- and 20-year JGB yields are in a one-to-one relationship with the six- and 12-month basis swap rates. A cheaper yen gives foreign investors strong incentives to buy 10- and 20-year JGBs under the quantitative and qualitative easing policy regime. A cheaper yen also gives foreign investors some incentives to buy five-year JGBs under the same regime. However, JGB yield does not co-move with basis swap rate under the negative interest rate policy regime. After the BOJ introduced the negative interest rate policy, the trend observed under the quantitative and qualitative easing policy regime changed.

Japanese regional banks have actively expanded their overseas business in emerging markets, and this topic is quite important for regional banks that have confronted severe business environments over the decades. An aging population suppresses long-term increases in loan demands, and stagnant economic conditions lead to lowered interest rates in the medium-term. Overseas business is a promising business field for regional banks, but recent developments have not been investigated in detail.

This chapter examines overseas investments using data from regional banks’ financial reports. Our sample comprises 44 regional banks without overseas branches, and a research period from FY2011 to FY2015. We demonstrate different overseas business patterns among regional banks. This investigation uses X-means clustering, which is nonhierarchical, as this method automatically presents an optimal number of clusters, and sorts regional banks into their appropriate clusters.

The X-means clustering method indicates five business patterns among regional banks. This also characterizes respective clusters and demonstrates that medium-sized banks actively develop security investments, which increases overseas business’s contributions to profits. Meanwhile, small banks cannot expand overseas investments, which differ from other banks. These banks must seek other business models to compensate for this decline in their earning power.