The end of an era of essentially free money in Japan, a flurry of dealmaking and the AI boom have unleashed record overseas borrowing by the nation’s firms whose renewed swagger is shaking up global markets. Japanese companies have raised $132 billion in foreign-currency bond and loan deals arranged by banks so far in 2025, up 56% from a year earlier. Underscoring the unprecedented shift onto the global stage, annual overseas note issuance is on course to exceed debt sales in yen for the first