Bank Day

What Is Bank Day?

Every July 1st is also "Bank Day" (銀行の日, Ginkō no Hi) in Japan. On July 1, 1893, the Banking Ordinance (銀行条例, Ginkō Jōrei) came into force, laying the legal foundation for Japan's ordinary (commercial) banks, separate from the earlier National Bank Ordinance. The day has been promoted since 1991 by Nihon Kinyu Tsushinsha (Nikkin), a financial news publisher, as a day for banks to return to their original mission of supporting customers and the stable development of the national economy.

Japan's Modern Banking History

Japan's first modern bank — the First National Bank (第一国立銀行, Dai-ichi Kokuritsu Ginkō) — opened in 1873 under the leadership of Shibusawa Eiichi, modeled on the American national banking system. Through later mergers it is an ancestor of today's Mizuho Bank. By the 1880s, a proliferation of national banks had created a need for more comprehensive regulation — providing the context for the 1893 Banking Ordinance. The Bank of Japan (日本銀行, Nihon Ginkō), established in 1882 as Japan's central bank, provided the monetary policy framework within which commercial banks operated.

Japan's Banking System Today

Japan's banking system today encompasses the Bank of Japan (central bank), three "megabanks" (Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho), regional banks serving prefectural economies, trust banks, credit unions (shinkin banks), and Japan Post Bank. The system is among the world's largest by assets, though it has been challenged by deflation, low interest rates, and demographic decline in the decades since Japan's 1990s financial crisis.

Banking Crises and Reform

Japan experienced a severe banking crisis in the 1990s following the collapse of the "bubble economy" — with non-performing loans threatening the stability of major banks and requiring unprecedented government intervention. The banking system's restructuring through consolidation (creating the three megabanks from a much larger number of major banks), bad loan disposal, and regulatory reform reshaped Japanese banking fundamentally, providing the more stable, if less dynamic, banking landscape of the 21st century.

Fun Facts

• Origin of "bank": The English word "bank" comes from the Italian "banco," meaning a bench or counter, after the tables on which medieval money changers did business.
• QR code payments: Japan was relatively slow to adopt smartphone-based payments compared to China, but QR code payments such as PayPay and d払い have grown rapidly since the late 2010s.