The end of an era of essentially free money in Japan, a flurry of dealmaking and the AI boom have unleashed record overseas borrowing by the nation’s firms whose renewed swagger is shaking up global markets.
Japanese companies have raised $132 billion in foreign-currency bond and loan deals arranged by banks so far in 2025, up 56% from a year earlier. Underscoring the unprecedented shift onto the global stage, annual overseas note issuance is on course to exceed debt sales in yen for the first time ever. That’s all prompted brokerages to beef up staffing, private credit giants to try to make inroads in lending to Japanese firms, and the introduction of a new major index.