Welcome to the one hundred fifty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. "AI is killing SaaS", or "software will be abundant and free" are the latest taglines of the AI prophets, after the path to AGI via LLMs has been discredited. Whether or not that will come true, this wave has surely induced a software bear market, and Japan has not been a safe haven. Take a look at Money Forward, for example, which is down about 50% over the past six months at the time of writing, despite the ongoin.

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. "AI is killing SaaS", or "software will be abundant and free" are the latest taglines of the AI prophets, after the path to AGI via LLMs has been discredited. Whether or not that will come true, this wave has surely induced a software bear market, and Japan has not been a safe haven. Take a look at Money Forward, for example, which is down about 50% over the past six months at the time of writing, despite the ongoin.

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-second edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy birthday to Emperor Naruhito 🎂 It's conference week again! If you would like to meet, you will most likely find us at the N.Avenue conference, the Credit Saison Blockchain Summit, the Yield Summit, and MoneyX. If you are coming to Tokyo for Japan FinTech Week, have an awesome stay! Here is what we are going to cover this week: Venture Capital & Private Markets: Yuimedi secures JPY 400m to streamline medi

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-second edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy birthday to Emperor Naruhito 🎂 It's conference week again! If you would like to meet, you will most likely find us at the N.Avenue conference, the Credit Saison Blockchain Summit, the Yield Summit, and MoneyX. If you are coming to Tokyo for Japan FinTech Week, have an awesome stay! Here is what we are going to cover this week: Venture Capital & Private Markets: Yuimedi secures JPY 400m to streamline medi

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Thank you for your patience (again), we are just a little bit conference'd out, and there are still a few days to go in Japan FinTech Week(s). For us, the highlights during the first week were JPYC's funding round, Progmat's migration to Avalanche, and SBI/Startale's expected launch of JPYSC. More to come from FIN/SUM this week. Here is what we are going to cover:Venture Capital & Privat...

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Thank you for your patience (again), we are just a little bit conference'd out, and there are still a few days to go in Japan FinTech Week(s). For us, the highlights during the first week were JPYC's funding round, Progmat's migration to Avalanche, and SBI/Startale's expected launch of JPYSC. More to come from FIN/SUM this week. Here is what we are going to cover:Venture Capital & Privat...

Welcome to the one hundred forty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. As widely expected, the Bank of Japan did not change the policy rate at the Monetary Policy Meeting last week. Amir Anvarzadeh of ASYMMETRIC ADVISORS commented on CNBC that the Bank of Japan should raise interest rates by 50 basis points to rescue the Yen, but the window for them to do so has closed and thus they will continue to commit policy errors. The The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Back thinks investors should.

Welcome to the one hundred forty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. As widely expected, the Bank of Japan did not change the policy rate at the Monetary Policy Meeting last week. Amir Anvarzadeh of ASYMMETRIC ADVISORS commented on CNBC that the Bank of Japan should raise interest rates by 50 basis points to rescue the Yen, but the window for them to do so has closed and thus they will continue to commit policy errors. The The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Back thinks investors should.

Welcome to the one hundred forty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. A unicorn was born through Alpaca's latest funding round. As if we knew this was coming, we are pleased to announce that Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Hitoshi Harada will join the next Tokyo FinTech Meetup on Wednesday, February 28. To get your opportunity to "touch a unicorn", please request an invite via our Luma page. Japan will go to the polls on February 8. While...

Welcome to the one hundred forty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. A unicorn was born through Alpaca's latest funding round. As if we knew this was coming, we are pleased to announce that Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Hitoshi Harada will join the next Tokyo FinTech Meetup on Wednesday, February 28. To get your opportunity to "touch a unicorn", please request an invite via our Luma page. Japan will go to the polls on February 8. While...

Welcome to the fourth year, and the one hundred fifty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from Mitsui & Co., Ltd., SBI Digital Markets, Cherubic Ventures, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking - SGCIB, and Visa, among others 🙏 With the Japanese fiscal year coming to an end, we wish everyone who is taking up new responsibilities, or joining a new company on April 1, all the best for the next stage of their caree

Welcome to the fourth year, and the one hundred fifty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from Mitsui & Co., Ltd., SBI Digital Markets, Cherubic Ventures, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking - SGCIB, and Visa, among others 🙏 With the Japanese fiscal year coming to an end, we wish everyone who is taking up new responsibilities, or joining a new company on April 1, all the best for the next stage of their caree

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from the NYSE, ICICI Bank, Wallester, the Bank of Uganda, and JCB／株式会社ジェーシービー, among others 🙏 Headlines this week belong to SMBC Group, which begins a new Medium-Term Plan with the fiscal year ending March 2027, the details of which will be published shortly. In the meantime, a Nikkei interview with SMFG President Toru Nakashima revealed some of the key ta

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from the NYSE, ICICI Bank, Wallester, the Bank of Uganda, and JCB／株式会社ジェーシービー, among others 🙏 Headlines this week belong to SMBC Group, which begins a new Medium-Term Plan with the fiscal year ending March 2027, the details of which will be published shortly. In the meantime, a Nikkei interview with SMFG President Toru Nakashima revealed some of the key ta

Welcome to the one hundred fiftieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The Japanese election completely overshadowed our monumental achievement of the 150th edition of the Japan FinTech Observer, while crossing 15,000 subscriber (on LinkedIn alone, ~20,000 across platforms) 😀 we remain humble, and truly appreciate your spending time with us, thank you 🙏 With regards to Takaichi's resounding victory, we would like to offer the unpopular opinion that it is way too early,...

Welcome to the one hundred fiftieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The Japanese election completely overshadowed our monumental achievement of the 150th edition of the Japan FinTech Observer, while crossing 15,000 subscriber (on LinkedIn alone, ~20,000 across platforms) 😀 we remain humble, and truly appreciate your spending time with us, thank you 🙏 With regards to Takaichi's resounding victory, we would like to offer the unpopular opinion that it is way too early,...

Welcome to the one hundred forty-ninth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The one hundred-fiftieth edition will arrive in your inbox post the February 8 election. If you are looking to meet in person this week, you will find us at the Japan Stablecoin Summit No. 2, the JBA Meetup 2026, and the Tokyo Asset Management Forum. Here is what we are going to cover this week: Venture Capital & Private Markets: Sony Innovation Fund bets big on infrastructure as Talos secures $1.5 Billion valua

Welcome to the one hundred forty-ninth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The one hundred-fiftieth edition will arrive in your inbox post the February 8 election. If you are looking to meet in person this week, you will find us at the Japan Stablecoin Summit No. 2, the JBA Meetup 2026, and the Tokyo Asset Management Forum. Here is what we are going to cover this week: Venture Capital & Private Markets: Sony Innovation Fund bets big on infrastructure as Talos secures $1.5 Billion valua

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-fifth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. 2026 was supposed to be the year marked by real wages turning positive again, after four years of decline. Meanwhile, JR East upped its fare by 10% (on my Mitaka to Shinjuku commute), the attack on Iran is being felt immedia...

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-fifth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. 2026 was supposed to be the year marked by real wages turning positive again, after four years of decline. Meanwhile, JR East upped its fare by 10% (on my Mitaka to Shinjuku commute), the attack on Iran is being felt immedia...

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we welcome new subscribers from the Bank of Thailand, the Commonwealth Treasury, Vietcap Securities, Broadridge, Tryfunds inc., and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, among others 🙏 I started compiling this edition on Monday morning, while listening to Lloyd Blankfein's "Streetwise" in the background. It just so happened that his memoirs reached the point of the Lehman collapse, the day after w

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we welcome new subscribers from the Bank of Thailand, the Commonwealth Treasury, Vietcap Securities, Broadridge, Tryfunds inc., and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, among others 🙏 I started compiling this edition on Monday morning, while listening to Lloyd Blankfein's "Streetwise" in the background. It just so happened that his memoirs reached the point of the Lehman collapse, the day after w

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from Mastercard and BVNK (congratulations on tying the knot!), Dealroom.co, the IFC - International Finance Corporation, and TerraPay, among others 🙏 This edition also marks our three year anniversary, 156 weeks of uninterrupted service! Thank you for spending your time with us 🙏 That was fun, let's do it all over again 💪 No snarky comments this week du

Welcome to the one hundred fifty-sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. This week, we are excited to have new subscribers join us from Mastercard and BVNK (congratulations on tying the knot!), Dealroom.co, the IFC - International Finance Corporation, and TerraPay, among others 🙏 This edition also marks our three year anniversary, 156 weeks of uninterrupted service! Thank you for spending your time with us 🙏 That was fun, let's do it all over again 💪 No snarky comments this week du