America has Warren Buffett, but Japan's most famous investor is 71-year-old Kiritani, who has a portfolio of over 500 stocks totaling over 400 million yen. He does not own a car and rides around everywhere in his bicycle. He's also known for his love of shareholder perks. /1
@RetireInJapan I also notice many high end cars in Osaka. I think sometimes they're bought on credit, other times bought with company expenses, and other times bought as a way of gifting assets to family members
@uckema less than 3% of Japanese households have 100-500m yen in assets. Just 0.2% have 500m yen or more. Kiritani-san is defintely up there among the rich Japanese class and yet he lives like an autistic rat
Absolutely incredible.
In an unprecedented move, South Korea's stock market just collapsed -44% in 40 days, erasing -$2 trillion in market cap.
Now, South Korea's finance ministry has announced plans to "stabilize" the market.
What is happening? Let us explain.
(a thread)
Japan Tobacco: Q2 2026
Growing in both traditional and new nicotine products:
- Total volume: +1.0% (combustibles +0.5%)
- RRP volume: +24.2% (HTP +31.5%)
Our summary:
🔗 https://t.co/71etN9r09J
HTP share reaches 18.3% in Japan, solidifying #2 position ahead of glo (BAT)
500m yen, JLPT N1, PR, a house, a Japanese wife, 2 or more children, and a mistress, and you win elite gaijin life bingo and have fully acclimated to Japanese culture
Added Sumitomo Rubber to the portfolio today. Had been eyeing it but now seems like a good entry point. Among the Japan tyre company majors, it’s the cheapest price to book and now has a juicy 4% dividend yield. Bonus: father in law likes their golf products
I wouldn't say that it *always* comes up but it does come up frequently.
It is still very true that for many people their image of Japan is still stuck in the bubble era and they're frequently suprised at how low salaries in Japan are and how cash poor many Japanese people are.
There is of course lots of old money in Japan, but often it is illiquid and tied up in land and real estate.
"Halp! I make 20m yen a year, but Takaichi and Orange Man Bad make me scared to sleep at night! What should I do?"
Bro is among the the top 1% of earners in Japan. Literally all he needs to do is just buy a bunch of tobacco and sogo shosha stocks if he's woried about yen risk