The Towa Bank, Ltd. (東和銀行)
On this page
- Wiki route
- TL;DR
- 1. Company overview
- The point on not converting to a holding company
- Affiliated businesses / subsidiaries ^[likely]
- Chronology
- Lineage of business-category transitions
- 3. Business segment map
- Operating-area geography
- Strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo (Mizuho) lineage
- Competitive structure
- Differentiation in SME finance
- 5. Regulation / policy
- Related
- Sources
Wiki route
This entry sits under regional-banks INDEX. Read it against Jimoto HD for peer / contrast context and banking index for the broader system / regulatory boundary.
TL;DR
A second regional bank headquartered in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture (TSE PRIME 8558). Founded as Gunma Mujin Co., Ltd. in 1917-11-01, and after conversion to a mutual bank (1951), renamed Towa Bank in line with the 1989 ordinary-bank conversion. With a standalone-bank structure not converted to a holding company, it holds the No. 2 position within Gunma Prefecture, second to the No. 1 regional bank gunma-bank. An SME-specialized operating base and SUBARU Ota plant supply-chain finance are the core of its corporate business. It built a wide-area cooperation framework through a 2003 strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (now mizuho-fg) lineage. Its abbreviation is “Towa”.
1. Company overview
Legal name: The Towa Bank, Ltd. (株式会社東和銀行) English name: The Towa Bank, Ltd. Securities code: TSE PRIME 8558 Founded: 1917-11-01 (Gunma Mujin Co., Ltd.) Current name: 1989 renamed Towa Bank (at the time of ordinary-bank conversion) Head office: 2-chome, Honcho, Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture Business category: Second regional bank (member of the Second Association of Regional Banks) / standalone bank (not converted to a holding company) Governance design: Company with an audit and supervisory committee ^[likely]
The point on not converting to a holding company
gunma-bank (the No. 1 regional bank), which competes within Gunma Prefecture, also maintains a standalone-bank structure, and Gunma Prefecture’s listed 2 行 both have the rare structure of a standalone-bank PRIME listing . As for second regional banks overall, while wide-area holding-company conversion advances at mebuki-fg / tomony-hd / fidea-hd / jimoto-hd / proclair-hd, etc., Towa Bank maintains a standalone structure. The background is:
- As an in-prefecture-concentrated, single-base bank, the business-diversification benefit of holding-company conversion is small
- Affiliated companies (leasing, guarantees, etc.) can be managed as direct subsidiaries under the bank
- Wide-area complementation through the strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank lineage (now mizuho-fg)
Affiliated businesses / subsidiaries ^[likely]
Towa Bank (standalone / listed 8558)
├── Towa Business Service ── back-office outsourcing
├── Towa Card Service ── credit cards / loans
├── Towa Lease ── leasing-related
└── Bank-securities cooperation ── cooperation with Mizuho-affiliated securities (via the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo alliance)The latest values for specific subsidiary names / shareholding ratios should be checked against official IR / the annual securities report.
Chronology
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1917-11-01 | Gunma Mujin Co., Ltd. established (founding) |
| 1942 | Renamed Gunma Shokusan Mujin |
| 1951 | Gunma Sogo Bank established (mujin → mutual-bank business conversion, enforcement of the Mutual Banks Act) |
| High-growth period | Expansion of the operating base in Gunma Prefecture, Maebashi, Takasaki, Ota, specialization in SME finance |
| 1989 | Ordinary-bank conversion + renamed Towa Bank (mutual bank → business-category change to a second regional bank, part of the en-masse conversion to second regional banks in the first year of Heisei) |
| 1990s | Maintained independence even through the regional-bank reorganization period after the bubble collapse |
| 2003 | Strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank lineage (now mizuho-fg) (construction of a wide-area cooperation framework including the before-and-after context of public funds) |
| 2010s | Strengthening in-prefecture SME / SUBARU-related supply-chain lending |
| 2022-04 | TSE market-segment review → continued TSE PRIME 8558 |
| 2024 | Medium-term management plan (specific period, name, and KPI details should be checked against published IR) ^[likely] |
Lineage of business-category transitions
Gunma Mujin (1917)
→ Gunma Shokusan Mujin (renamed 1942 )
→ Gunma Sogo Bank (business conversion 1951 / Mutual Banks Act)
→ Towa Bank (ordinary-bank conversion + renaming 1989 )A bank that followed the typical business-category evolution of a Japanese SME financial institution: mujin → mutual bank → ordinary bank (second regional bank) .
3. Business segment map
| Segment | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| In-prefecture SME corporate | Gunma Prefecture, Maebashi, Takasaki, Ota, Isesaki, etc., with SME specialization at the core |
| SUBARU supply-chain finance | Lending to parts suppliers of the SUBARU Ota plant, concentration in automotive-related manufacturing |
| Individual | In-prefecture mortgages / pension accounts (No. 2 in-prefecture share, second to gunma-bank) |
| Expansion into adjacent prefectures | Parts of northern Saitama Prefecture / western Tochigi Prefecture / northern Tokyo |
| Bank-securities cooperation | Cooperation with Mizuho-affiliated securities (via the mizuho-fg strategic alliance) |
| Cards / leasing | Towa Card Service / Towa Lease, etc. |
Operating-area geography
- Base: All of Gunma Prefecture (Maebashi, Takasaki, Ota, Kiryu, Isesaki, Tatebayashi, etc.)
- Expansion into adjacent prefectures: Northern Saitama Prefecture (Kumagaya, Honjo, etc.) / Tochigi Prefecture / part of northern Tokyo
- Characteristics: Gunma-Prefecture SME specialization + the SUBARU Ota plant economic zone
Strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo (Mizuho) lineage
2003 A strategic alliance with the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank lineage :
- Wide-area systems / joint product development
- Referral of large-corporate deals to senior banks / bank-securities cooperation
- Complementing standalone-bank resources by utilizing Mizuho-affiliated infrastructure
- A typical example of maintaining a standalone structure without joining a large group while complementing on a wide-area basis through strategic cooperation
Competitive structure
| Competitor | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| gunma-bank Gunma Bank | The No. 1 in-prefecture, No. 1 regional bank, PRIME 8334, standalone bank, Towa Bank’s largest competitor |
| mebuki-fg Ashikaga Bank | Based in Tochigi Prefecture but competes operationally in eastern Gunma, Mebuki FG holding-company structure |
| Tochigi Bank | A Tochigi-based second regional bank, competes operationally in eastern Gunma |
| Gunma Mirai Credit, etc., shinkin / cooperatives | Competes in-prefecture in small-lot / community-focused segments |
| Mega 3 行 | Competes with mufg / smfg / mizuho-fg for large corporates (mid-tier and above) |
Differentiation in SME finance
- Branch network: Close placement of branches in in-prefecture SME districts ^[likely]
5. Regulation / policy
- Supervision: Financial Services Agency (FSA) / Kanto Local Finance Bureau
- Industry: Member of the Second Association of Regional Banks (Daini-Chigin-kyo) (not a member of the Regional Banks Association of Japan = the No. 1 Chigin-kyo)
- Capital regulation: Basel III domestic-standard bank ^[likely]
- Deposit insurance: Member of the Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Recent policy issues:
- 2024〜 BOJ policy-rate normalization → improved deposit-loan spreads → regional-bank earnings bonus
- Regional-bank reorganization pressure (FSA / use of public funds / recommendation of holding-company conversion) vs the decision to maintain a standalone bank
- SUBARU / automotive-industry EV transition → risk of structural change in the parts supply chain (dependence on SME-supplier borrowers)
- The SME-zombification problem (the exit from COVID ZeroZero loans) → credit stress for second regional banks
Related
- gunma-bank · mebuki-fg · mizuho-fg · tomony-hd · jimoto-hd · fidea-hd
- Mega 3 行: mufg · smfg · mizuho-fg
- Second-regional-bank comparison: proclair-hd · fidea-hd · jimoto-hd
Sources
- Wikipedia: 株式会社東和銀行（https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東和銀行, 2026-05-19 抽出）
- 東和銀行 公式 IR（中期経営計画・有価証券報告書）公開資料
- 第二地方銀行協会 加盟行リスト 公開
- 全国地方銀行協会 / 第二地方銀行協会 公式情報
[!info] Verification status confidence: likely (v2.0 Wikipedia + published IR reference 2026-05-19). The founding (1917-11-01 Gunma Mujin), renaming history (1942 Gunma Shokusan Mujin → 1951 Gunma Sogo → 1989 Towa Bank), listing (TSE PRIME 8558), head-office location (Maebashi City), Second-Association-of-Regional-Banks membership, and the mizuho-fg-lineage (former Dai-Ichi Kangyo) alliance (2003) are based on public information. Specific medium-term-management-plan figures, the subsidiary list, the latest financial results, and the shareholder structure should be checked against official IR. The SUBARU SME-supplier lending concentration is inferred as a structural characteristic (no public disclosure).