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.