Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, January 22nd.

Today on Forbes, why Warren Buffett is an unexpected winner from Japan's market turbulence.

Japan is weathering an economic hurricane.

Japanese government bonds are suffering a historic sell-off, and the yen is sliding fast as

investors panic over Prime Minister Sinai Takachi's fiscal stimulus and proposed tax cuts.

In the 10 days leading up to Wednesday, yields on the 40-year Japanese government bonds have

eclipsed 4%, a figure not seen for long-dated JGB securities in three decades.

For policymakers in Tokyo, a crisis is brewing.

But for Berkshire Hathaway, the chaos has been good for business.

The Omaha-Nabrasca-based conglomerate has big equity stakes in Japan's five large trading houses,

known as the Sogo Shosha, or General Trading Companies, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Marubeni,

and Sumitomo. Shares in those and other Japanese corporations are on a tear,

as Japan's central bank raises rates to combat

inflation after years of deflation. Over the past three months, Marobeni has jumped more than

30%, while Sumitomo is up over 40%. Amid the past week's volatility, all five stocks gained

between 3% and 11%.

Japan's Niki-25 stock index is down about 3% over the last 5 trading days leading

up to Wednesday, but up 33% in the last 6 months, compared to the S&P 500 index's 8%

return. Berkshire first invested in the five trading companies in July

2019, spending $6.5 billion in total to acquire 5% stakes in each firm. Between 2023 and last year,

it spent another $7.3 billion on the five companies, boosting the size of its stakes.

That $13.8 billion cash expenditure is now worth around $38 billion, a $24 billion gain.

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