Corporate Japan has become a by-word for inefficiency, for groupthink, for shareholder unfriendliness.

That has all been changing for the last few years. Politicians, regulators, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and investors have all brought pressure to bear on Japanese companies to clean up their balance sheets and improve governance. They have, by and large, been listening, though progress has been more evolution than revolution and investors outside Japan have barely noticed.

However, just as Hemingway wrote about bankruptcy, things tend to change gradually, then all at once. A transformative event occurred in corporate Japan just a month ago, when Akio Toyoda, grandson of the Toyota dynasty, launched a $42 billion bid to take Toyota Industries private. This is a major move from Japan’s most culturally important company and it signals Japan’s deepening shift towards shareholder value and corporate reform.

Join us for a workshop on the evening of Tuesday, June 17th 2025 at The Hilton Dublin, Charlemont Pl, St Kevin’s D02 A893 where we will unpack the implications of this seismic transaction, what it says about Japan Inc.’s evolving priorities, and where the opportunities for outsized returns from Japanese equities might be found.