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Kyriba has published research showing that many Japanese finance chiefs cannot respond quickly to currency and interest-rate shocks. The findings are based on a survey of 101 chief financial officers and senior finance decision-makers in Japan.
The data comes as the Bank of Japan has lifted its policy rate to 1%, its highest level in more than three decades, and signalled further increases. The shift has pushed foreign exchange and borrowing costs higher up the corporate risk agenda, yet many companies still need several days to assess exposure and adjust their financial strategy.
Among those surveyed, 66.3% said they were concerned about currency volatility, while 63.4% cited interest rates, and the same proportion pointed to tariffs. Those concerns ranked behind inflation, named by 78.2% of respondents, and political instability, cited by 69.3%.
The research suggests the problem is not awareness of risk but speed of response. Only 19.8% of organisations said they could quantify the financial implications of an emerging external risk, such as a foreign exchange or rate shock, in real time or near real time. Another 29.7% said the process could take as long as a week.
Once a risk is identified, only 15.8% said they could change financial strategy on the same day. Most respondents said they would need between two days and a full week to act.
Preparedness also appeared uneven. While 45.5% rated their organisation's readiness as high, only 25.7% reported high confidence in their ability to analyse exposure across cash, liquidity, and working capital in real time.
Many companies in the survey said they had already felt the commercial consequences. A total of 78.2% said their organisation had suffered a material financial impact over the past 12 months because of weak risk visibility or a delayed response to an emerging threat.
This is particularly important for Japanese groups with cross-border operations, exposure to imports or exports, or financing linked to shifting rates. A weaker yen can raise import costs, alter margins and affect debt servicing, while higher domestic rates can change funding assumptions that had remained stable through Japan's long period of low interest rates.
Policy pressure
The Bank of Japan's move has sharpened attention on risks that might once have been treated as background conditions. Currency moves and rates are now tied more directly to active central bank policy decisions than to slower-moving economic trends, making timing more important for treasury and finance teams.
Tariffs were also named by 63.4% of respondents, underscoring how trade policy can add pressure on exporters already dealing with exchange-rate swings. For large Japanese companies, these factors can affect procurement, pricing, earnings translation and investment decisions at the same time.
Yoko Otsu, Managing Director, Japan, at Kyriba, said the findings pointed to a clear execution gap inside corporate finance teams.
"Japanese CFOs are more focused on currency and rate risk than at any point in recent memory. What our research shows is that awareness alone isn't enough. Most organisations need days, sometimes a week, to translate that awareness into action. In a market moving as fast as this one, that gap has a cost," Otsu said.
Governance shift
The findings also come as Japanese companies face broader pressure to make better use of cash and strengthen financial oversight. The debate over corporate governance has increasingly centred on whether businesses are managing liquidity actively enough rather than simply holding large cash balances.
The issue matters because the survey highlights a disconnect between self-assessed readiness and operational visibility. Nearly half of respondents said preparedness was high, yet only about a quarter expressed strong confidence in real-time analysis across key balance-sheet areas.
Such a gap can leave management teams exposed when markets move quickly. If exchange rates or interest costs change sharply, companies may struggle to see the effect on cash positions, working capital or financing needs until after losses or margin pressure have already emerged.
The survey formed part of a wider study of 1,354 chief financial officers and senior finance decision-makers at companies with revenue above USD $500 million across the UK, the US, France, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Singapore, Germany and Spain. The Japanese findings were drawn from 101 respondents.
Kyriba presented the results as evidence that Japanese finance teams need faster access to risk data and quicker decision-making as market volatility persists. The central finding was stark: more than three-quarters of respondents said delayed visibility or slow reactions had already caused material financial damage in the past year.