is a Japanese bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 headquartered in Akita

Akita, Akita

is the capital city of Akita Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan.As of June 11, 2005, with the merger of the former Kawabe District , the city has an estimated population of 323,310 and density of...

, Akita Prefecture

Akita Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Akita.- History :The area of Akita has been created from the ancient provinces of Dewa and Mutsu....

. Although the bank’s core business comes from Akita prefecture, various branches are situated outside of the area. These include Koriyama

Koriyama, Fukushima

is a city in the center of the Nakadōri region of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. As of May 2011, the city had an estimated population of 336,328. The total area is 757 km²....

, Sapporo

Sapporo, Hokkaido

is the fourth-largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the island of Hokkaido. It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan....

, Morioka

Morioka, Iwate

is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture, Japan.As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 300,740 and a population density of 588.11 persons per km². The total area is 489.15 km²....

, Sendai

Sendai, Miyagi

is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region. In 2005, the city had a population of one million, and was one of Japan's 19 designated cities...

, and Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. The bank was noted for its initial reluctance to establish a wide ATM network, finally implementing one in January, 2003.

Profile

As of March 31, 2005:

Assets: Approximately ¥2.4 trillion (approximately $22 billion)

Employees: 1,540

Branches: 105 (89 Within Akita Prefecture)

President: Takashi Shinkai

Member: Regional Banks Association of Japan

History

The current Akita Bank traces its roots to the establishment of The 48th National Bank in January, 1879. The bank adopted its current form on October 20, 1941 when The 48 Bank (successor to The 48th National Bank), the Yuzawa Bank, and the Akita Bank merged to form The Akita Bank, Ltd. While the former mascot for the bank had been Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...

 (along with Winnie Woodpecker), the current mascot is Astro Boy

Astro Boy (1960s)

is a Japanese manga series first published in 1952 and television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story follows the adventures of a robot named Astro Boy and a selection of other characters along the way....

.