SoftBank Group SFTBY has officially dethroned Toyota Motor to become Japan’s most valuable public company, a milestone last achieved briefly during the Internet bubble of 2000. The Masayoshi Son-led conglomerate now boasts a market capitalization of 48.78 trillion yen (approximately $302 billion), surpassing Toyota’s 45.89 trillion yen.
This rise of SoftBank in the backdrop of the nation’s benchmark Nikkei 225 exhibiting exceptional multi-month momentum underscores a structural transformation within Japan's capital markets, putting a bright spotlight on the country's broader equity arena and, by extension, the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding SoftBank along with other Japanese corporate giants.
Before identifying these ETFs to capitalize fully on this historic paradigm shift, it is essential to closely dissect SoftBank’s strategic rise alongside the structural macro factors driving Japan’s tech-led market revival.
What Led to SoftBank’s Recent Fame?
SoftBank's dramatic multi-billion-dollar surge to become Japan’s most valuable enterprise is a direct reflection of its pivot from a speculative telecom investor into an aggressive, infrastructure-heavy artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse.
Central to this narrative is its foundational ownership stake in Arm Holdings ARM, whose chip architectures underpin the global AI hardware boom, alongside an aggressive global infrastructure deployment campaign. Notably, shares of the British chip designer have surged 223.2% so far in 2026, after a bumper rally over the past two years.
Shares of SoftBank have also rallied sharply of late, after the company disclosed gaining $46 billion at its Vision Fund, driven mainly by the huge rise in value of its investment in OpenAI (as cited in CNBC).
In addition to committing investment worth more than $60 billion in OpenAI, which would give it around 13% ownership of the company, SoftBank has committed to investing roughly $87 billion to develop and operate 5 gigawatts (GW) of AI data center capacity in France.
Last year, SoftBank partnered with OpenAI and Oracle in a multi-year project worth $500 billion called Stargate, which aims to build a massive, nationwide network of AI data centers across the United States.
All these developments are indicative of the fact that SoftBank is aggressively investing capital directly into high-margin physical AI capacity and computation layers, which must have led to its recent fame as Japan’s biggest company.
Outlook for the Japanese Equity Market
The aforementioned aggressive, capital-intensive moves position SoftBank as a direct beneficiary of the next phase of the global AI transformation. However, the opportunity extends beyond a single stock.
Notably, Japan's improving economic fundamentals—rising corporate governance standards, a weak yen boosting exports, and government support for its semiconductor supply chain—are creating a tailwind for the entire equity market of the nation.
Strategists at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs remain strongly bullish about Japanese equities, citing the AI infrastructure boom and the end of deflation as catalysts for sustained revaluation. Morgan Stanley’s latest report, published in May 2026, estimates that return on equity for Japan’s public market is expected to rise toward 12%, with AI infrastructure investment being one of the primary drivers.
Japan ETFs in Spotlight
The aforementioned macro tailwind and the robust outlook position the following Japanese ETFs directly in the global financial spotlight, offering investors diversified exposure to the nation's technology-led renaissance:
iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ
This fund, with net assets worth $21.30 billion, offers exposure to 168 Japanese equities. SoftBank holds the third position in this fund, with 3.40% weightage.
EWJ has gained 15.1% year to date. The fund charges 49 basis points (bps) and has traded at a good volume of 5.20 million shares in the last trading session.
JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF BBJP
This fund, with net assets worth $17.36 billion, offers exposure to 179 Japanese companies. SoftBank holds the third position in this fund, with 3.27% weightage.
FLTW has surged 65.1% year to date. The fund charges 9 bps as charges and has traded at a good volume of 1.20 million shares in the last trading session.
Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF FLTW
This fund, with net assets worth $3.79 billion, offers exposure to 477 large- and mid-sized Japan companies. SoftBank holds the third position in this fund, with 2.98% weightage.
FLTW has surged 65.1% year to date. The fund charges 9 bps as charges and has traded at a volume of 0.17 million shares in the last trading session.
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ARM Holdings PLC Sponsored ADR (ARM): Free Stock Analysis Report
SoftBank Group Corp. Unsponsored ADR (SFTBY): Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ): ETF Research Reports
Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF (FLTW): ETF Research Reports
JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF (BBJP): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).