Berkshire Hathaway recently disclosed a 2.5% stake in Tokio Marine Holdings, a multinational insurance holding company.

Before the announcement, Tokio Marine was a sleepy stock.

Its U.S.-listed ADR ticker ($TKOMY) traded around $37 per share. Since the investment, shares have surged past $46.41.

That move, combined with a recently developed personal interest in browsing cheap houses in rural Japan, got me looking into other Japanese stocks.

Rather than doing a full deep dive, here’s a quick overview of three publicly traded Japanese-related companies that are easily accessible to American investors. One is already a Berkshire Hathaway holding, one was an idea highlighted by Jim Rogers nearly 40 years ago, and the third is a U.S. company with heavy exposure to Japan.

ITOCHU Corporation is a Berkshire Hathaway holding that got a lot of attention when Warren Buffett first bought shares, but has since faded from the spotlight.

It’s one of Japan’s largest sogo shosha (general trading and investment companies), with roots dating back to 1858. ITOCHU operates across a wide range of industries, including textiles, aerospace, heavy machinery, chemicals, consumer goods, real estate development, financial services, and insurance.

You may recognize the company through its retail subsidiary, FamilyMart: a popular convenience store chain operating throughout Asia.

ITOCHU’s U.S.-listed ADR currently trades at a price to earnings ratio of 15.84 and offers a 2.04% dividend yield, paid semiannually. As with any Japanese company, both valuation and yield can fluctuate due to currency exchange rates.

That said, this company has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past decade. ITOCHU Corporation’s $ITOCY shares delivered a 10-year average annual total return of 18.64%.

This is a market-beater that Warren Buffett owns. That alone makes it worth a look.

In Investment Biker, legendary investor Jim Rogers noted that Japan’s stock market was significantly overvalued (an accurate observation when Rogers visited Japan in the early 90s), but there was still one undervalued investment: buying a seat on the Japanese exchange.

The days of owning seats on an exchange are long gone, but Japan Exchange Group offers similar exposure.

The company owns and operates Japan’s primary securities and derivatives markets, including the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Osaka Exchange, Tokyo Commodity Exchange, and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation.

The stock trades at a premium, with a price to earnings ratio of 27.66. However, it also offers a decently high 3.06% starting dividend yield, paid semiannually.

This stock is heavily tied to the Japanese economy, which has suffered a 30-year economic slump. As a result, Japan Exchange Group’s 10-year average annual total return is lackluster at a mere 5.16%.

Still, this is a wide-moat business and a direct play on virtually all stock and commodity trading activity in Japan.

One challenge with investing in foreign companies is the amount of legwork required to truly understand the business. You need to learn local regulations, consumer behavior, and cultural nuances. Even if you get everything right, your investment can still underperform the S&P 500 due to policy decisions outside your control.

Brazilian beer company Ambev S.A. is a classic example. Strong fundamentals, but constantly ice skating uphill due to Brazil’s weak local economy.

Sometimes the smarter move is to find a company in your home country with significant international exposure. That approach eliminates the headache of translating filings, calculating currency effects, or paying ADR fees.

Aflac is a U.S.-based supplemental insurance provider. However, its business is heavily tied to Japan. In 2025, more than 57% of total revenue came from the Japanese market.

As an investment, Aflac has delivered a 10-year average annual total return of 15.93%, beating the market. Despite that performance, it still trades at a relatively cheap price to earnings ratio of 15.02.

Aflac also offers a 2.21% starting dividend yield.

Like most U.S. companies, distributions are paid quarterly, and the company has achieved an inflation-busting 5-year compound annual dividend growth rate of 14.97%.

If you want Japanese exposure with U.S. regulatory transparency, Aflac is an obvious choice.

I find the Japanese stock market intriguing since it gets very little mainstream investment attention, despite attracting value investors like Warren Buffett.

There are tons of Japanese companies without liquid ADRs (though many are accessible through platforms like Interactive Brokers), but it’s worth starting with the larger, more accessible names.

ITOCHU Corporation is a Buffett favorite. Japan Exchange Group, Inc. is a play on almost all the Japanese stocks. And Aflac is the “lazy” investor’s way to gain exposure.

If you’re interested in diversifying abroad, give these names a look.

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Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice, always do your own research.