Fair value measurements - Geographic allocations of trading assets related to government, agency and municipal securities (Parenthetical) (Detail) - JPY (¥) ¥ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017
Fair value, concentration of credit risk [Line items]
Non-trading debt securities	¥ 726,993	¥ 775,025
Government, agency and municipal securities [Member]
Fair value, concentration of credit risk [Line items]
Non-trading debt securities	¥ 488,000	¥ 544,000

Amount of debt securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75030427&loc=d3e22054-111558

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82896770&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82897076&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 320
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)-(g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75019621&loc=d3e62557-112803

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant