The essays of a Japanese investor

Japanese company which we want to cherish most

2010-02-19T20:53:00.006+09:00

This is a title of the book which Professor Koji Sakamoto of Hosei University wrote.
Would anybody please translate Japanese into English and send it to the world?
Here is the true Japanese-style management!
I am weak in English, but I want to convey the main point of this book.

Professor Sakamoto explains that Corporate management is "a mission and responsibility for five".

1. Make employees and the family happy.
If employees are happy, company can offer the service that is good for customers.

2. Make employees of subcontractors happy.
Company must not force a deficit on subcontractors.
The organization making ends meet on sacrifice of somebody is wrong.

3. Make customers happy.
Raising the satisfaction of employees and subcontractors leads to raising customer satisfaction.

4. Make community happy, and revitalize community.
Through daily corporate activities, local residents are proud of the company.

5. Finally, happiness of stockholders born naturally.
If company achieves the happiness of employee, subcontract, customer, and community, The happiness of stockholders occurs necessarily.

Do you think it to be a pretty word?
But in Japan, there are a lot of such companies.
Introduced companies are so splendid that I keep back tears while reading a book.
Vol. 2 is released in Japan and is going to follow still more now.

Link to a Japanese edition.

日本でいちばん大切にしたい会社
日本でいちばん大切にしたい会社2
坂本光司

Unfinished Beauty

2009-12-15T22:19:00.010+09:00

I think the Japanese tends to prefer unfinished thing to a perfect thing culturally.
You may seem unexpectedly, because Japan export products of high quality.

I introduce two Japanese famous books.

One is a book about the tea ceremony.

"It is essentially a workship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life." (The Book of Tea)

"The Book of Tea" was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century.

Another is my favorite book "Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)".
This book was written by Kenko Yoshida in the 14th century.

"In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth."

The tendency in search of the unfinished beauty emerges for gardening.
It is Japanese rock garden.
Representative case is The Karesansui garden in Ryoan-ji Temple.
In this garden, Stones spread in the place where should pour water.
The person who sees a garden can understand true beauty only by feeling water in a stone.

I heard that Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) might be completed in around 20 years.
I regret this a little.
This may be a Japanese way of thinking.

25 regrets when we die

2009-11-21T10:20:00.002+09:00

In my Japanese Blog, the article that I introduced the book which the end-of-life expert wrote is being read well.
For anyone, the thought is same: we do not want to die with regretting in one way or another.
It may be almost impossible to greet our last moments without a piece of regret.
But I want to think deeply about these 25 points at least.

Not having valued health
Not having given up smoking
Not having displayed living will
Having lost sight of a meaning of remedy
Not having done anything he(or she) wanted
Not having lived out a dream
Having dyed a hand into an evil deed
Having spent life swung around in feelings
Not having been gentle to others
Not having doubt that oneself was No.1.
Not having decided disposition of inheritance
Not having thought about funeral service
Not having returned to the hometown
Not having eaten a delicious thing
Not having spared time for a hobby
Not having traveled in the place he(or she) wanted to go
Not having met the person who wanted to meet
Not having done unforgettable romance
Not having married
Not having brought up a child
Not having married a child off
Not having left behind one's proof that lived
Not having been got over life and a problem of the death
Not having known God's instructions
Not having informed "thank you" for an important person

Life is determined by the person we meet.

2009-10-31T19:54:00.006+09:00

Japanese translation of Buffett's biography "The Snowball" is released at last next month.
I took a look at a thick book (English ver.) once again.

I think the key sentence is "Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill."
There is a mention that "Snowball" is "what kind of friends you accumulate.".
"Snowball" is a friend, not money.

My 20's life was blessed very much.
I got this happiness not by my talent, but by a lot of friends' help.

"Life is determined by the person we meet."
This is my motto.
As a sign of gratitude for my friends, I want to become the man who can help the person whom I will meet.

Can we predict Future?

2009-10-18T11:00:00.003+09:00

We are mortal, so we dislike that we think about the future seriously.

When we predict the future by limited knowledge and experience, it becomes uncertain.

The future expectation is influenced by whether our present life is happy or unhappy.

Though we can't judge even a current event definitely, can we expect the future?

Nonetheless we investor continues predicting the future.
Will slight hope be "intuition"?

Investment and Dignity

2009-09-23T21:45:00.005+09:00

Speculation and investment, day-trader and long-term investor, concentrated investment and diversified investments, etc.
Generally, the latter is considered to be a more intellectual act than the former.
Because higher return is provided more safely, but ...

In securities market, somebody's profit are inevitably-linked to somebody's lose.
For example, as for the profit to be provided through investment to the commodity market, there may be even possibility taking somebody's life away as well as somebody's money.

Therefore, regardless of investment technique, dignity is lack.

The fall of investment bank by this financial crisis clarified that the profit and the prosperity that were provided abandoning dignity are only temporary things.

Sooner or later we will lose both the wealth and the happiness if we lose dignity as the person.

In comparison with it, the salary by our working is beautiful.
The money that somebody understands our work and pays arrives at our hands.
Unlike a securities market, joy and satisfaction have economic value and are changed with money.

Even if no matter how much I succeeded in investment, I will try to never forget the importance of working.

Don't depend on luck.

2009-09-07T20:16:00.002+09:00

Luck is sort of vague. But there is surely it.

I don't want to depend on luck if possible.
Because I feel that Depending on luck seems to be resignation to myself.
I believe myself and want to make an effort than I pursue luck.

I think that person with heart to believe oneself is a genius.

Wealth and Happiness

2009-08-24T10:05:00.009+09:00

If the person thinking "Money makes me happiness." gets money, he (or she) can never find happiness.
Because, even if his property increase, his human value doesn't change.

I think that our happiness is connected with our work rather than our wealth.
Job satisfaction will decide our happiness or unhappiness.

In addition, money gained by our work is beautiful.
The money that somebody understands our work and paid arrives at our hand.
Unlike stock market, joy and satisfaction have economic value and are changed for money.

I don't want to put too much effort on saving money on investment.

Do you look for the right timing?

2009-08-14T21:32:00.001+09:00

As for the investment, a timing is important.
However, unfortunately we do not understand whether this timing is good or bad, and we will understand it later.
It is important that the courage which we believe ourselves and take a step forward.

The same could be said of our life.

We don't have much time to make many excuses, for example "I'll wait a bit longer" and "I can't do until I take care of this matter.".
The life is limited.

We must carefully compare in our minds that we might hope to make our principal work.
And if we decide which is of the greatest value, we should renounce our other interests and devote ourselves to that one thing only.

Bet on intuition?

2009-08-06T19:50:00.006+09:00

Yoshiharu Habu says in his book "70% of the intuition is right".

The intuition is working unconsciously, but I think that enormous data based on knowledge and experience are handled in our brain.

On the other hand, we can't often give an answer without intuition even if we think desperately.
It may be caused by the shortage of knowledge and experience.

If we pursue the things that we love, our intuition will work definitely.

The word of wisdom by the great man

"Obey intuition, if you want to create." Leonardo da Vinci

"Inspiration is born, if you run a risk and bet on intuition." Taro Okamoto

All happiness is in the mind.

2009-07-30T09:36:00.003+09:00

The person who had fame and fortune is generally considered to be happiness.
However, let's notice that the person who is unrelated to such a thing lives happily.
All happiness is in the mind.

Public capitalism

2009-07-22T09:49:00.001+09:00

Mr. George Hara attracts attention recently in Japan.
He tells that "the corporation should give priority to profit of the whole society over the profit of the stockholder" and denies the recent theory of stockholder or finance capitalism.
He calls this "Public capitalism" as form of new capitalism.
That's Japanese way of looking at things.
If a person like him plays an active part in the world, Japan will have a bright future.

My favorite book

2009-07-16T07:06:00.003+09:00

"Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)" to be considered to be the one of the excellent essays in Japan was written by Kenko Yoshida in the 14th century.
I think that this book is the Japanese version of "Essais" by Montaigne and "Ta eis heauton" by Marcus Aurelius.
There is English translation by Professor Donald Keene.

Tanabata Festival

2009-07-07T08:53:00.003+09:00

Today ( July 7th ) is the day of "Tanabata" in Japan.
We Japanese write our wishes on strips of colorful paper and then hang them on bamboo branches.

If I could have a wish come true, ...
What I am doing is enough happiness.
I want to continue having this feeling.

What do you wish?

Money is important, too.

2009-07-01T20:20:00.003+09:00

The idea about the money is divided into about two ways.

As long as I have money, there is nothing that I can't do.
If I have money too much, it becomes rather unhappy.

I am apt to place a disproportionate emphasis on a latter idea.
In nature, The middle idea is most suitable.

"Money can't buy happiness, and happiness can't buy money."

Asking yourself

2009-06-27T13:31:00.003+09:00

We are apt to make judgments on the basis of what we observe of other people.
But we know little about ourselves.
It is illogical to know others and not ourselves.

Our investment decisions are the same.
We mustn't judge on the basis of what other investor does.
The investment should be decided only by asking ourselves.

Investment and Life

2009-06-20T21:32:00.002+09:00

The human lungs are divided into four. It is two in right and two in left.
I removed left lower lungs surgically when I was a junior high student.
Because I don't understand when I can't work, I will make lifetime money during my twentysomething.
I have done my best with such an aim.

I am 31 years old now.
Thanks to a way of thinking obtained through the study of investment, I could achieve moderate success.
To be honest, I have never made great profits on the investment itself.

What is important is a way of thinking.
If you are manipulated by the seesawing stock prices, you may miss a near-at-hand chance.
I think that obsession with money and losing money are the same.

Keep our expectations realistic.

2009-06-14T15:39:00.005+09:00

"The grass is always greener on the other side."
When we see a person close to us succeeding, we are liable to lose ourself.
Don't bite off more than you can chew.

"Rome was not built in a day."
If we want to succeed, we can't have any choice but to do our best at all times.
And don't overexert ourself in whatever we do.
What counts most is keeping the same passion, spirit and motivation.

Application of "intristic value"

2009-06-09T08:24:00.002+09:00

I said in previous article, it is important to keep appropriate distance from the money.
Strangely enough, the more we concentrate on investment, the less our assets increase.
We need to look at the big picture.
If we use knowledge and experience gained under investment, sometimes this approach can pay off in other fields.
The idea of "intristic value"(by Mr.Buffett) is especially important in the various situation of our life.

Misfortune begins with comparison

2009-06-03T13:39:00.006+09:00

"Making a lot of money - that's what I call being a symbol of the intelligence."

I believed so when I was young.

When I was 24 or 25 years old, I realized that I have nothing to do with the feeling of happiness even if I compete with something and win it. In other words, I never have a happy life unless I stop comparing myself with others.

Furthermore, if I express it in other words, we investors don't have to care so much about comparing our performance between reference index (example:S&P500).

The necessary ability for investment

2009-05-31T10:09:00.007+09:00

I think that there are four abilities to succeed in investment. Two already talked.

Continue having the same passion, spirit and motivation.
Appropriate distance from the money.

The other two are in "The Intelligent Investor (by Benjamin Graham)". Please read the preface written by Warren Buffett.

"To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework."

The third and the fourth are these.

Sound intellectual framework for making decisions.
Ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework.

If we were to get these four abilities, we could earn money enough, even if we don't depend on equity investment. I wrote "The necessary ability for investment" as a title, but in fact, it may be "The necessary ability to succeed in our life".

Appropriate distance from the money

2009-05-27T20:52:00.005+09:00

To my knowledge, the money seems to dislike people wanting money too much.
It is proof having wealth above-average that you are an investor. Investors are apt to forget this.
We are already happy if we stop comparing ourself with others. And if we had kept an appropriate distance from the money, we would not have suffered from the influence of the bubble burst.

Expressways of knowledge

2009-05-25T20:13:00.005+09:00

Following the previous article, I continue introducing Mr.Habu.
In 2002, he said,
"A big change occurred in the shogi world, because of IT Revolution. A expressway for improving the shogi skill was laid out all at once. But there is a great traffic jam at the end of the expressways."

This remark was introduced by Mochio Umeda and became the topic in Japan. I think that this remark applies to every field. Of course it applies to a field of the investment, too.

I feel that the more I learn, the worse I am stuck in heavy traffic. I am looking for a method to surmount a traffic jam. It may be one choice to get off the expressway.

Continue having the same passion, spirit and motivation

2009-05-23T19:26:00.006+09:00

Do you know Yoshiharu Habu ?

He is one of the best Shogi(Japanese chess) players in Japan. The book which described him as "In human history, the person who thought most deeply" was published recently in Japan. I respect him very much, too.

In his book which became the best seller in Japan several years ago, there are such words;
"Talent is to continue having the same passion, spirit and motivation."

In the stock market, all people try hard to achieve profit. Even if we make an effort, we may be not adequately rewarded. In such situation, it is important whether we can continue passion. If we continue without quitting, at least, we will be able to profit from the person who gave it up.

It seems to apply to our life, not only to investment.

Introduction

2009-05-23T18:45:00.001+09:00

I have been writing blog in Japanese since 2005. I wants to be read by people in the world as well as a Japanese. I begin this blog with such idea.

But, frankly speaking, I am poor at English. Anyway, I will do my best.