From Hokuriku Region and Japan’s northern heartlands, Hokuhoku Financial Group, with Hokuriku Bank and Hokkaido Bank at its core, is driving regional renewal by uniting finance, technology, and community to spark sustainable growth across borders and generations.
By Daniel de Bomford
Where the mountains of the Hokuriku region meet the vast skies of Hokkaido, stand regions on the precipice of change. Once defined by snowbound winters and the steady rhythm of traditional industry, these regions are now stirring with a new kind of energy, like the first buds awakening in spring after a long frost.
At the heart of this change is Hokuhoku Financial Group, which is one of Japan’s most dynamic regional banking groups. The group’s core institution, Hokuriku Bank, can trace its origins back approximately 150 years, during the Meiji era, to a simple regional bank founded to serve the Hokuriku region. Now, it is the pulse beneath Japan’s northern frontier, a network of businesses and communities moving together toward a renewal. Today, Japan emerges from a long economic frost of ultra-low interest rates and steps into what President Hiroshi Nakazawa calls “a world of interest.” Hokuhoku Financial Group stands at the crossroads, ready to help bridge cities and countryside, finance and technology, and Japan and the world.
Navigating Japan’s New World of Interest.
In March 2024, Japan took a “turning point” after ending years of negative interest rates, as described by Nakazawa. For the first time in more than a decade, the nation’s policy rates rose above zero. Even the modest 0.5 percent symbolized something massive, the thawing of decades of deflation and the spring of a new economic rhythm.
Nakazawa sees this as both an opportunity and a responsibility. “As long-term interest rates rise, lending rates also increase, which encourages more active lending rather than passive financing,” he says. For regional banks like Hokuhoku Financial Group, the change brings a renewed vitality, more dynamic lending, portfolio innovation and fresh capital circulation across local economies.
However, higher rates also bring new risks and dynamics to the market, and Nakazawa remains pragmatic in managing them. While profitability is set to grow, the group’s true success will lie in ensuring that financial growth translates into regional prosperity.
Building Japan’s Northern Growth Hub
While Hokuhoku Financial Group’s roots are situated deep in Japan’s regional soil, its branches are now reaching for the global market. At the heart of its regional revitalization strategy is Hokkaido as a dynamic financial and industrial hub.
Nakazawa says that this vision is being realized through a public-private partnership between Hokkaido Prefecture and Sapporo, which has established a special financial zone to attract long-term investment and next-generation industries.
“What we are creating in Hokkaido is not a hub in the traditional sense of importing materials from overseas, but rather a financial hub—a focal point where manufacturing, next-generation industries, and major infrastructure projects converge,” he says.
The group’s STEP Program, in which Hokkaido Bank participates, embodies the ambition. The program assists foreign investors, linking global firms with local partners and nurturing sectors from semiconductors and data centers to storage batteries, offshore wind and transmission networks, sectors Japan has historically lacked.
These are long-term projects with horizons that may extend beyond 2040. However, in Nakazawa’s view, Hokkaido can serve as an international hub for finance, industrial and communications infrastructure, potentially even connecting Japan and North America.
Regional Roots Grow into Global Reach
While the group’s identity is grounded regionally, its reach has long extended far beyond Japan’s shores. For nearly half a century, the group has maintained seven bases across Asia and in the world’s leading financial center, New York.
“Our overseas activities stretch back nearly fifty years, long before globalization became the norm,” Nakazawa says. What began as support for industrial and infrastructure projects in Japan has evolved into a global platform, linking investors, industries and innovation.
Today, Hokuhoku Financial Group’s international offices serve as two-way bridges, attracting foreign investors and institutions to opportunities in Japan while helping Japanese SMEs explore partnerships and markets abroad. Through cooperation with financial institutions, the group enhances the cross-border flow of capital, knowledge and opportunities.
Sapporo TV Tower viewed from Odori Park (Hokkaido)
Digital Transformation with a Human Touch
Across the world, digitalization is transforming the way finance serves people. Hokuhoku Financial Group has steadily reimagined its operation, digitizing services and building a seamless customer support ecosystem. Its mobile app has already surpassed one million registered users, with nearly 80 percent active engagement, which Nakazawa calls a “source of pride” for the organization.
The group is advancing digital document management and new service platforms, which are the foundation for integrating generative AI, Web3 and refined UI/UX experiences. Nakazawa has a clear vision for technology’s role: “We recognize that technology is only as strong as the people who design and implement it,” he says. “Therefore, we are investing heavily in training and hiring talent with the skills needed to lead this transformation.”
For Japan’s aging and often rural communities, digital services are becoming a vital social lifeline, expanding accessibility and financial inclusion. “For us, digitalization is not simply a cost-saving measure — it is an essential means of delivering better financial services and improving quality of life for our customers,” he says.
Investing in People: The Engine of GX and DX
Every innovation at Hokuhoku Financial Group is designed to enhance the incredible strengths of the company’s people. As Nakazawa says, “Securing and nurturing talent is indeed one of our top priorities.” Over the next three years, the group plans to increase its pool of specialist staff from 2,000 to 2,300, with a focus on GX and DX consulting, as well as M&A advisory services.
While recruitment is certainly part of it, the group is focusing on sustained training and upskilling to cultivate in-house expertise to meet Japan’s ongoing needs in sustainability and digital innovation. Hokuhoku Financial Group remains open to hiring professionals across domestic and international offices. Furthermore, regarding M&A, Nakazawa says, “If there is strong synergy, alignment in management direction, and real potential for growth, acquisitions can be a valuable way to expand our capabilities.”
The Triangle Network: Linking Cities and Regions
Hokuriku Bank has been deeply intertwined with Japan’s own modernization, with its foundation in the Meiji era as a national bank supporting local industries. In Hokkaido, Hokkaido Bank’s roots can be traced back to the postwar drive to finance small and medium-sized enterprises that drove the island’s development. Hokuhoku Financial Group has established footholds in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, connecting local economies to Japan’s major commercial centers.
The triad of Hokuriku, Hokkaido and the metropolitan areas forms what Nakazawa calls a “triangle” of cooperation: “Our role has been to connect these major cities with the regional economies, facilitating flows of capital, knowledge, and people in both directions.”
The triangle network serves as the blueprint for regional revitalization built on public-private collaboration, shared knowledge and a balance of financial and non-financial value creation. It aligns with the group’s medium-term management plan, which focuses on partnership-driven innovation and finance with social impact, ensuring that growth benefits the country’s regions.
Creating a Bright Future Beyond the Regions
From its 19th-century roots in regional banking to its modern role as a global bridge, Hokuhoku Financial Group has evolved into a catalyst for sustainable growth, uniting finance, technology and community. President Nakazawa defines it as going beyond regions to create a bright future. That simple idea captures the group’s purpose: empowering people and communities through shared progress.
Like the renewal of spring, Hokuhoku Financial Group is tending the shoots of Japan’s regions. Enabling regional revitalization, advancing digital transformation and guiding a radiant future, rooted in Japan’s regions. As Nakazawa succinctly says, “Our mission is to be the driving force of growth at every level — local, national and international.”
To hear more from President Hiroshi Nakazawa of Hokuhoku Financial Group, check out this interview with him.
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