The BoJ owns 9.78% of Softbank. https://group.softbank/en/corp/irinfo/stock/ownership/

Softbank cannot borrow directly from the BoJ because it is not an actual bank. However, they recently issued bonds at a 1.38% rate: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/bonds/gone-in-1...

Welcome to NIRP.

Thankfully, Softbank's internal exposure to the Vision Fund is quite limited. Also, they have a sizeable liquid stake in Alibaba worth $100 billion they can unwind if they start needing cash. I don't think retail SoftBank investors are in imminent danger, but I do think the BoJ eating up so much liquidity in sovs is pretty crazy.

> The BoJ owns 9.78% of Softbank. https://group.softbank/en/corp/irinfo/stock/ownership/

Are you sure? I just Googled 'The Master Trust Bank of Japan Ltd.' (the only listed shareholder with 9.78% ownership) and it seems to be owned by Mitsubishi Trust Bank and a bunch of other banks, and nothing to do with the BoJ...

http://www.opac1.com/bank/detail.php?bcd=5960 yeah according to this it's owned by Mitsubishi Trust, Nippon Life Insurance, Meiji Life Insurance, Touyou Trust (which became a chunk of UFJ Trust), and ... I think Deutsche Bank?

So like a bunch of fingers in this pie. A good or a bad thing depending on your perspective.

The BoJ does not own 9.78% of SOFTBK; the Master Trust Bank of Japan does. Here is their website:

https://www.mastertrust.co.jp/

I don't know much about them but from a brief look they look comparable to BNY Mellon.

That 100 billion Alibaba valuation looks fishy.

It’s complicated, and has a long history. The Japanese industrial complex has generally been more tightly linked than the West. (Perhaps cultural reasons?). Suppliers and customers frequently had large cross-holdings. The system works when the goals are well known, but can prove tough to change.

After WW2 the US occupational forces were going to dismantle the giant corporate groups (Kerietsu) but decided to keep them in place to strengthen Japan as a counterbalance to North Korea.

Despite this, the links weakened over time. While there are cases like the ones with SoftBank, this isn’t a new phenomenon.

And before we judge the system too harshly, in 30 years Japan went from a post-nuclear dystopia to a first world economy. It’s managed to keep the economy moving despite an aging population and very low birth rates. There are lots of “But X...” though it’s still a fascinating economy.