The Wall Street Journal is set to form a partnership with Japanese financial services group SBI Holdings Inc. to launch a Japanese edition of the newspaper's online offerings, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

The addition of a Japanese edition means the Wall Street Journal will be available in five languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. The launch also furthers the Journal's push into the global market, specifically the world's second largest economy.
The establishment, the Wall Street Journal Japan K.K., will be launched in mid-May, beginning with a capital base of 400 million yen, SBI announced in a statement. Dow Jones will own 60 percent, while Tokyo-based SBI will hold 40 percent.

The new company hopes to have the Japanese Web site running within the year, SBI said.

The site will offer translations of the Wall Street Journals articles and columns, a complete version of the newspaper's multimedia services and a mobile service for the Japanese cell phone market, according to the AP article, posted by the Chicago Tribune.

Since the purchase of Dow Jones by News Corp. in 2007, the company has sought to expose the brand to a much larger global audience. The Wall Street Journal earlier this year reached out to Asian and European online markets and has also introduced an Indian online edition.

SBI Holdings is based in Tokyo and operates Japan's largest online brokerage, SBI Securities Co.