MW Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway boosted Mitsubishi and Mitsui stakes. Why he's enamored with Japan.

By Steve Goldstein

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has admiration for Japanese trading hours.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has boosted its stake in Mitsubishi and Mitsui, further increasing a long-standing bet on Japanese trading houses.

Mitsubishi (JP:8058) disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway $(BRK.B)$ unit National Indemnity increased its stake to 10.2% from 9.7%, as Mitsui (JP:8031) separately told Bloomberg that Berkshire's stake was increased.

Berkshire Hathaway since 2019 has invested in the pair along with Marubeni (JP:8002), Itochu (JP:8001) and Sumitomo (JP:8053).

The increased stakes were not a surprise - the firm this year had asked a Japanese regulator permission to increase the stakes beyond 10% in all five. Berkshire Hathaway pledged not to increase stakes beyond 20% and not to exert day-to-day control.

In the last annual report, Buffett explained why he bought the five in the first place.

"We simply looked at their financial records and were amazed at the low prices of their stocks. As the years have passed, our admiration for these companies has consistently grown. Greg [Abel] has met many times with them, and I regularly follow their progress. Both of us like their capital deployment, their managements and their attitude in respect to their investors," wrote Buffett.

"Each of the five companies increase dividends when appropriate, they repurchase their shares when it is sensible to do so, and their top managers are far less aggressive in their compensation programs than their U.S. counterparts," he added.

He added that Abel, and his successors, will hold the Japanese position "for many decades."

Another plus - the estimated interest cost on Berkshire's yen-denominated debt will be $135 million but its dividend income will be $812 million, Buffett said.

The iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ has gained 17% this year, outperforming the S&P 500.

-Steve Goldstein

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August 28, 2025 04:35 ET (08:35 GMT)

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