Tokyo - It has not been so long since the world worried about Japan's financial sector.

After the speculation excesses of the late 1980s and early 1990s Japan's banks moaned under a tremendous burden of non-performing loans.

Even as late as 2003 they sought financial bailout packages from foreign banks, especially from the United States.

Now the situation has changed dramatically as the US financial market has been turned upside down.

Now it is the Japanese banks that are starting to buy out their American counterparts.

Japan's banks have returned with a vengeance internationally, launching a series of major investments in the US financial sector.

The country's largest brokerage, Nomura, has for example just taken over the Asian and European business interests of collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers, beating several other foreign contenders to it.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has acquired a stake in the United States' second largest securities firm, Morgan Stanley.

The US financial upheaval is the opportunity of a lifetime for Japanese financial institutions, one that would occur only once in a generation, enthused Nomura's president, Kenichi Watanabe. Other financial experts agreed.

"For Japan's banking sector this presents a huge chance," said Martin Schulz, an economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo.

After years of restructuring, Japan's financial institutions see themselves wallowing in money again.

But there is still uncertainty as to what to do with all this newly regained wealth.

One of the reasons for the uncertainty is that the domestic market is still stagnant.

While Japanese banks have been supporting some large exporters like Toyota Motors in their overseas endeavors, their main business focus has remained on local clients, an attitude that simply has not been good enough to facilitate international expansion.

Although opportunities abroad abound, Japan's banks after a decade of internal restructuring, cutbacks and mergers have not had the necessary know-how and international relationships.

But now the crisis in American banking has provided new opportunities.

The Japanese financiers are not restricting their assault to straight forward investments.

Instead, they go beyond pure investments to expand their operations abroad by utilizing human resources and financial networks. The Japanese financial firms are building strategic alliances, according to Jesper Koll, president of Tantallon Research Japan.

This could be the start of a genuine globalization drive by Japan's finance sector, using the experiences they gained from weathering their own financial crisis.

"Japan's banks are now ready, because they know how to deal with bad loans and their ratings," explained Schulz.

Additionally, Japan's banks now show readiness not only to buy foreign know-how, but also to integrate and foster it in new markets.

Through the takeover of entire American banking networks Nomura and other firms have the opportunity to develop new markets, especially in Asia and the Middle East.

These regions have for many years displayed great interest in closer contacts to Japanese commercial companies and financial institutions.

But despite these meticulously devised plans, the Japanese are still far from being able to manage US banks all on their own.

Experts have hinted at the different cultures and the necessity for the Japanese to respect international strategies that may present a hurdle.

"We will have to wait and see how far Japanese banks can develop their abilities in the international arena," said Schulz. (dpa)