Top 10 Japanese Banks Every Investor Should Know

Ask anyone outside Japan to name a Japanese company and you’ll hear Toyota, Sony, Nintendo, maybe Uniqlo. Ask them to name a Japanese bank and most people go quiet. Funny thing is, three Japanese banks sit inside the world’s top 20 by total assets, and the biggest one, MUFG, holds about $2.67 trillion. That’s bigger than Canada’s whole economy for a year.

These banks also just had the best year in their history. MUFG, SMBC Group and Mizuho made a combined ¥5.26 trillion of net profit in the year to March 2026, the first time they ever crossed ¥5 trillion. Rising interest rates did most of the work. After years of zero and negative rates, the Bank of Japan pushed its rate to 1% in June 2026 and then to 1.25% in September, the highest level since 1995.

Below you’ll find the top 10 Japanese banks by total assets, what each one does, its latest results and the one thing worth knowing about it. You also get a quick guide to the different types of banks in Japan, the mergers coming in 2027, and which banks work best if you’re a foreigner living there.

Not financial advice. This article is for general information only. It isn’t a recommendation to buy or sell any stock. Bank shares can fall fast when rates or the economy turn. Do your own research and, if you can, talk to a licensed financial advisor before you invest.

A quick note on dates. Japanese companies run their year from April to March. So when a bank says “fiscal 2025”, it means April 2025 to March 2026. We use “the year to March 2026” to keep it simple.

The Top 10 Japanese Banks at a Glance

Dollar figures for 1 to 7 come from S&P Global Market Intelligence’s April 2026 ranking. Yen figures are each bank’s balance sheet at 31 March 2026. Dollar figures for 8 to 10 are our conversion at ¥158.55. Nomura Holdings ($395 billion) is bigger than numbers 8 to 10, but it’s mainly a stockbroker, so it’s not on this list.

The Types of Banks in Japan, in Plain Words

Most lists online mix very different banks together, which is why you see a farmers’ bank sitting next to an app bank. Here’s how they split:

• Megabanks. MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho. Each is a holding company that owns a big commercial bank plus a trust bank, a brokerage and card companies. When people say “Japanese banks” they usually mean these three.
• Trust banks. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust manage pensions and estates, handle real estate deals and look after assets for institutions.
• Japan Post Bank. The savings bank that runs through post offices. Lots of deposits, few loans. Most of its money goes into bonds and other securities.
• Cooperative central banks. Norinchukin (for farm, fishery and forestry co-ops) and Shinkin Central Bank (for local credit unions called shinkin banks). They collect spare cash from hundreds of small lenders and invest it.
• Regional banks. About 100 of them, each strong in one prefecture: Chiba, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Yokohama and so on. Many now sit under holding groups.
• Online banks. Rakuten Bank, SBI Sumishin Net Bank, Sony Bank, PayPay Bank, au Jibun Bank. No branches, low fees, popular with younger people and foreigners.

One more thing that confuses people: the group and the bank have different names. MUFG is the holding company; MUFG Bank is the bank inside it. Same with SMFG and SMBC, or Mizuho Financial Group and Mizuho Bank.

1. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)

MUFG is the biggest bank in Japan and the 11th biggest in the world, with about $2.67 trillion in total assets on S&P’s April 2026 list. It formed in 2005, when Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group merged with UFJ Holdings. Inside the group you’ll find MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and the Nicos card business.

Net profit for the year to March 2026 hit ¥2,427.2 billion, up 30.3%, according to Jiji Press. Reuters put it at about $15.3 billion. Then April to June 2026 came in at ¥809.4 billion, up 48.2%, a record first quarter. MUFG guided to roughly ¥2.7 trillion for the full year to March 2027 and announced a ¥100 billion share buyback in May.

MUFG makes a lot of its money outside Japan. It owns roughly a fifth of Morgan Stanley in the US, runs Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya) in Thailand and Bank Danamon in Indonesia. In 2025 it bought Moneytree, a Japanese money management app. Brand Finance valued the MUFG brand at $15.3 billion in 2026, up 43%, the 23rd most valuable bank brand in the world.

Good to know: MUFG shares also trade in New York under the ticker MUFG, so you don’t need a Japanese brokerage account to buy them.

2. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group)

SMBC Group is Japan’s second-biggest bank with $2.02 trillion in assets on the S&P list, or ¥328.5 trillion in its own March 2026 accounts. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation came together in 2001 from Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank, and the holding company followed in 2002. The group also owns SMBC Nikko Securities and SMBC Trust Bank, which runs the Prestia accounts a lot of foreigners use.

In the year to March 2026, SMBC Group made ¥1,583.0 billion of profit, up 34.4% from ¥1,178.0 billion. It paid a ¥157 dividend per share, bought back up to ¥180 billion of stock between May and July 2026, and split its shares 2-for-1 on 1 October 2026. It forecasts ¥1.70 trillion of profit for the year to March 2027. April to June 2026 profit was ¥501.3 billion, up 33%.

SMBC is putting a lot of money into India. In September 2025 it completed the purchase of 20% of Yes Bank from State Bank of India and six other lenders, which made it Yes Bank’s largest shareholder, and it has approval from India’s central bank to go up to 24.99%.

Good to know: If you’re a foreigner opening an account in Japan, SMBC Trust Bank (Prestia) has English support and accepts foreign currencies. The fees are higher than online banks though.

3. Mizuho Financial Group

Mizuho is the third megabank, with $1.90 trillion in total assets. It was born in 2000 from three old banks: Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan. If you ever wondered why “Fuji Bank” still shows up when you search for Japanese banks, that’s where it went.

Mizuho had the fastest growth of the three megabanks last year. Profit for the year to March 2026 rose 41% to ¥1,248.6 billion, the first time Mizuho crossed ¥1 trillion. April to June 2026 came in at ¥422.9 billion, up 45.5%, and after the June rate hike Mizuho raised its full-year forecast.

Mizuho has been pushing into US investment banking. In 2023 it bought Greenhill & Co, a New York advisory firm, to win more merger work. Its brand was worth $7.1 billion in 2026 per Brand Finance, 62nd in the world.

Good to know: Some English websites call Mizuho a “public sector bank”. It isn’t. Mizuho is a private company listed in Tokyo and New York (ticker MFG).

4. Japan Post Bank

Japan Post Bank is the odd one on this list. It has ¥226.6 trillion in assets and ¥186.1 trillion in deposits at the end of March 2026, so it’s bigger than most banks in the world. But it makes very few loans. Most of that money sits in Japanese government bonds and other securities.

The bank came out of the old postal savings system and was set up as a company in 2007, then listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2015. You can use it at roughly 24,000 post offices across Japan, which is why almost every Japanese family has a Yucho account somewhere.

Higher rates are good for Japan Post Bank too. Net income for the year to March 2026 rose 26.8% to ¥525.6 billion, a record for the third year in a row. It forecasts ¥660 billion for the year to March 2027 and plans to lift its dividend to ¥93 from ¥74. Brand Finance rated it AAA+, the second strongest bank brand in the world.

Good to know: For foreigners, Japan Post Bank is one of the easiest accounts to open. Its international transfer fee is high though, up to ¥7,500 a transfer at a counter.

5. Norinchukin Bank

Norinchukin is the central bank for Japan’s farm, fishery and forestry cooperatives. It was founded in 1923, isn’t listed, and has about $542 billion in assets. It collects deposits from local JA co-ops and invests them, mostly in bonds and loans abroad.

That strategy went wrong when US and European interest rates rose. Norinchukin sold foreign government bonds at a loss and posted a net loss of ¥893.9 billion in just April to September 2024. Its president said the full-year loss would be more than ¥1.5 trillion, and the bank planned to sell over ¥10 trillion of low-yield bonds that year.

It’s back in profit now. Bloomberg reported net income of ¥81.1 billion for April to June 2026, up almost 40%, and a full-year target of ¥50 billion to ¥100 billion.

Good to know: You can’t buy shares in Norinchukin or open an account there. It matters to you only if you follow the bond market or Japanese farm finance.

6. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust is Japan’s biggest trust bank group, with $522 billion in assets. It came from the 2011 merger of Chuo Mitsui Trust and Sumitomo Trust, and changed its holding company name to Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group in 2024. It’s separate from SMBC Group even though the names look alike.

A trust bank looks after other people’s money. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust manages pensions, handles inheritances, runs real estate brokerage and acts as custodian for big investors. Profit for April to June 2026 was ¥142.2 billion, up 56.6%, the fastest growth among Japan’s five big banking groups that quarter.

Good to know: The bank in this group is Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. SMBC Trust Bank (Prestia) belongs to SMBC Group. People mix them up all the time.

7. Resona Holdings

Resona is a bank group built around households and small businesses, with $495 billion in assets. It formed in 2003 from Daiwa Bank and Asahi Bank and needed a government rescue that same year. It paid the money back and now runs Resona Bank, Saitama Resona Bank and Kansai Mirai Bank in the Osaka area.

The holding company sits in Tokyo, while Resona Bank’s head office is in Osaka. That is why you’ll see both cities given as its HQ online. Profit for April to June 2026 was ¥80.5 billion, up 14.2%, and Resona raised its full-year forecast after the June rate hike.

Good to know: Resona has no big overseas business. Its results move mostly with Japanese rates and Japanese small business lending.

8. Shinkin Central Bank

Shinkin Central Bank does for Japan’s shinkin banks (local credit unions) what Norinchukin does for farm co-ops. There are a couple of hundred shinkin banks, each lending to small local firms. They park their spare cash with Shinkin Central Bank, which had ¥46.9 trillion in total assets at the end of March 2026, down from ¥48.2 trillion a year before.

Good to know: Shinkin Central Bank has preferred shares listed in Tokyo (8421), but most retail investors never touch them.

9. Fukuoka Financial Group

Fukuoka FG is the biggest regional bank group in Japan by total assets, at ¥33.6 trillion at the end of March 2026. It owns the Bank of Fukuoka, Kumamoto Bank and Juhachi-Shinwa Bank in Nagasaki, plus Minna no Bank, a smartphone-only bank it launched in 2021.

The group covers Kyushu, Japan’s southern island, where chipmaker TSMC opened a factory in Kumamoto in 2024 and brought a wave of new business borrowing. Brand Finance ranked the Bank of Fukuoka 413th among global bank brands in 2026.

Good to know: Minna no Bank is one of the few digital banks in Japan built by a regional group rather than a tech company.

10. Yokohama Financial Group

Yokohama FG, known until recently as Concordia Financial Group, owns the Bank of Yokohama, Higashi-Nippon Bank and Kanagawa Bank. Total assets rose 3.5% to ¥25.7 trillion at the end of March 2026. Net profit for the year rose 28.6% to ¥106.5 billion, and it expects ¥129 billion for the year to March 2027.

The Bank of Yokohama has been the largest single regional bank in Japan for a long time, and it serves Kanagawa, the prefecture right next to Tokyo with over 9 million people.

Good to know: Yokohama FG pays a ¥38 annual dividend, and its profit forecast for the year to March 2027 is up 21.1%.

Why Japanese Banks Are Suddenly Making So Much Money

For almost 30 years, Japanese banks earned close to nothing on the gap between what they charged for loans and what they paid on deposits. The Bank of Japan kept rates at zero, then took them negative in 2016. Banks cut costs, closed branches and went overseas to make money.

That changed in March 2024, when the Bank of Japan began raising rates. It moved to 1% on 16 June 2026 and to 1.25% on 18 September 2026. Each step lets banks charge more on loans faster than they raise deposit rates.

You can see it in the numbers:

• The three megabanks made ¥3.13 trillion combined in the year to March 2025, and ¥5.26 trillion in the year to March 2026, up 33.9%.
• The five biggest groups (adding Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Resona) made ¥5.84 trillion and forecast ¥6.39 trillion for the year to March 2027.
• In April to June 2026, those five groups made ¥1.96 trillion, up 42.3% from a year earlier. Four of them set first-quarter records.

Savers are finally getting something too. Aozora Bank paid 1.2% on ordinary deposits and SBI Sumishin Net Bank paid 0.5% in October 2026, per Global Finance Pro. A few years ago most Japanese banks paid 0.001%.

Regional Bank Mergers Coming in 2027 and 2028

Japan’s population is shrinking and many regional banks have too many branches for too few customers. The Financial Services Agency now pays up to ¥5 billion (¥7.5 billion in some cases) to help regional banks merge. Three deals are lined up:

• Chiba Financial Group (1 April 2027). Chiba Bank and Chiba Kogyo Bank signed a final deal on 25 March 2026. Both banks keep their names under a new holding company, with no branch closures planned. Jiji Press says it will be Japan’s third-largest regional bank group by assets.
• Gunma Niigata Financial Group (April 2027). Gunma Bank and Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group signed on 26 March 2026. Together they had ¥21.5 trillion of assets at the end of 2025, making them the fifth-largest regional group, with the head office in Tokyo.
• Shizuoka and Nagoya (April 2028). Shizuoka Financial Group and the Bank of Nagoya have a basic agreement to integrate.

If you hold shares in any of these banks, check the share exchange ratios in the merger documents before the deals close.

Best Japanese Banks for Foreigners

The biggest bank isn’t always the easiest one to open an account with. Most Japanese banks want a residence card and a Japanese phone number, and the megabanks often ask you to have lived in Japan for six months. Here are the ones that are friendlier to newcomers:

Fees come from MailMate’s September 2026 guide. Check each bank’s own fee page before you apply, because they change. Standard ATM fees run about ¥110 to ¥220 a withdrawal outside the bank’s own machines, according to Expatica.

Your money is protected either way. Japan’s Deposit Insurance Corporation covers up to ¥10 million per person per bank, plus interest.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest bank in Japan?

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), with about $2.67 trillion of total assets on S&P Global’s April 2026 list. That makes it the 11th largest bank in the world. SMBC Group ($2.02 trillion) and Mizuho ($1.90 trillion) come second and third.

What are the three megabanks in Japan?

MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group) and Mizuho Financial Group. Together they made ¥5.26 trillion of net profit in the year to March 2026.

Is Japan Post Bank bigger than the megabanks?

No, not by total assets. Japan Post Bank had ¥226.6 trillion at the end of March 2026, behind all three megabanks. It’s huge on deposits (¥186.1 trillion) but makes very few loans.

Why are Japanese bank profits so high in 2026?

Interest rates. The Bank of Japan has been raising rates since March 2024 and reached 1.25% in September 2026, the highest since 1995. Banks earn more on loans than they pay on deposits, so higher rates mean wider margins.

Which Japanese banks are merging?

Chiba Bank and Chiba Kogyo Bank (Chiba Financial Group, April 2027), Gunma Bank and Daishi Hokuetsu (Gunma Niigata Financial Group, April 2027), and Shizuoka Financial Group with the Bank of Nagoya (planned for April 2028).

Can foreigners buy Japanese bank stocks?

Yes. MUFG (MUFG), SMBC Group (SMFG) and Mizuho (MFG) all have shares that trade in New York, so a normal US or international broker can buy them. The others trade only in Tokyo.

Which Japanese bank is best for foreigners?

For English service, SBI Shinsei Bank or SMBC Trust Bank (Prestia). For the easiest sign-up, Japan Post Bank. For cheap international transfers, many expats keep a Japanese account for bills and use Wise for sending money home.

Pick the Bank That Fits What You Need

If you’re an investor, the three mega banks are the simplest way in, and all three trade in New York. If you live in Japan, the best bank is the one that lets you open an account this week and doesn’t charge you ¥7,500 every time you send money home. Those two answers are usually different banks.