TOKYO (Reuters) – Top Japanese businessman Yasuchika Hasegawa backs Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plans to revitalize the stagnant economy in the face of criticism that the government is sidestepping politically thorny reforms ahead of an upper house election.

The member of Abe’s panel of industrial competitiveness told Reuters in an interview that he was confident the government eventually would take up issues like corporate tax and labor regulation, which critics complain have been left out of Abe’s marquee policy agenda.

TOKYO, June 12 (Reuters) – Japan’s home buyers are rushing
for fixed-rate mortgages to lock in on what they consider
rock-bottom rates, in a sign of early victory for the central
bank as it attempts to reflate the world’s third-largest economy
with a burst of monetary stimulus.

The bold monetary expansion which aims to achieve 2 percent
inflation in less than two years has sparked a rise in bond
yields and fanned worries among home owners that interest rates
are set to rise sooner or later.

TOKYO, June 4 (Reuters) – Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd
said on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy a 40 percent
stake in Panin Life of Indonesia for $337 million, extending its
expansion into Southeast Asia’s biggest economy as it hunts for
growth overseas.

The deal comes as Japanese life insurers actively seek
acquisition opportunities in Southeast Asia, attracted to the
region’s low insurance penetration and emerging middle class.
Dai-ichi, one of Japan’s top four life insurers, said last month
that it was ready to spend 300 billion yen ($3 billion) on M&A
deals globally in the next two years.

By Taiga Uranaka and Nathan Layne

(Reuters) – Suntory Holdings Ltd received approval to list its core food and non-alcoholic beverage unit in Tokyo, paving the way for Asia’s largest initial public offering this year worth $4.4 billion.

Suntory is raising funds in part for foreign acquisitions, undeterred by a weakening yen as it competes with rivals Kirin Holdings Co Ltd (2503.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Asahi Group Holdings Ltd (2502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) on deals abroad while consumer demand stagnates in Japan.

By Taiga Uranaka

(Reuters) – Suntory Holdings Ltd will get the green light to list its food and non-alcoholic beverage unit in Tokyo as it prepares to raise about $5 billion (3 billion pounds) in Asia’s largest initial public offering this year.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is planning to approve the listing of Suntory Beverage and Food Ltd as early as Wednesday, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The exchange and Suntory declined to comment.

May 29 (Reuters) – Suntory Holdings Ltd is set to receive
Tokyo Stock Exchange approval as soon as Wednesday to list its
food and non-alcoholic beverage unit, a source with direct
knowledge of the process told Reuters.

The clearance would set the stage for an initial public
offering that a separate source with knowledge of the situation
has said could raise as much as 500 billion yen ($5 billion), in
what is expected to be Japan’s largest IPO of the year.

TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) – Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co
Ltd has agreed to buy a 40 percent stake in Panin Life
from the parent of the Indonesian insurer for around 30 billion
yen ($295 million), a source with direct knowledge of the matter
said.

The stake acquisition by one of Japan’s top four life
insurers is the latest in a string of deals by increasingly
acquisitive Japanese firms. Dai-ichi said this month it plans to
spend 300 billion yen on M&A deals in the next two years.

TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) – Japanese life insurers are giving
signs that they may not send much more of their $3 trillion in
assets abroad this year, as Japanese government bond yields
start picking up, despite hinting last month that they might
boost their foreign bond holdings to seek higher returns.

Investors have been spurred to revise their market outlook
by a sharp rise in Japanese bond yields over the past two weeks
to one-year highs, taking the market by surprise. Just last
month the benchmark yield fell to a record low after the Bank of
Japan announced a massive monetary expansion plan.

TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) – Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co
Ltd has agreed to buy a 40 percent stake in Indonesia’s
Panin Life for about 30 billion yen ($295 million), a source
with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The move by one of Japan’s top four life insurers is the
latest in a string of deals by increasingly acquisitive Japanese
firms in the fast-growing region.

TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) – Investors in Japan might keep a
close eye on sales of the homely horse mackerel as an early
warning of any trouble ahead.

The good news is that in the more confident Japan of 2013,
tuna remains king.

So says Mizuho Securities economist Kenta Ishizu, who
believes he has found a leading indicator of Japanese consumer
demand that relies on two of the most common items on a sushi
menu: Japanese horse mackerel and tuna.