Japan’s top trading houses see no recovery on the horizon for the commodities crash that forced some of the first-ever annual losses by the champions of the nation’s economy, accelerating their shift away from energy and raw materials.

Tsuyoshi Maruki stands out like a lone wolf in Japan, where societal intolerance for aggressive shareholder campaigns has spurred a breed of friendly activists.

Masayoshi Son’s promises of a turnaround for his U.S. operations and a record share buyback haven’t been enough to erase SoftBank Group Corp.’s $22 billion valuation gap. The billionaire founder has at least one more card to play -- listing the company’s domestic telecommunications business.

Japan’s biggest banks may forecast the lowest profit in four years as negative interest rates squeeze lending margins and the commodity slump risks souring energy loans.

Most Asian stocks rose as Japanese shares climbed on a weaker yen after the smallest U.S. jobs gain in seven months fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will look to raise interest rates gradually.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda just delivered a chilling warning to Japan Inc.: the days of easy yen-fueled profits are over.