Shosukabu.com to Host Reading Group on The True Face of the “Disliked”: Japan’s Tricksters

Shosukabu.com Inc. announced that it will co-host a reading group on Satoshi Ishido’s book The True Face of the “Disliked”: Japan’s Tricksters together with the Nerima Political Research Association and the Civil Division 8 Monitoring Committee. Published by Shincho Shinsho in November 2024, the book follows figures such as Toru Tamagawa, Akihiro Nishino, GaaSyy, Hirofumi Yoshimura, and Taro Yamamoto, and asks why people cannot look away from public figures who attract both praise and criticism. A major feature of the book is that it does not simply dismiss its subjects as controversy-driven celebrities. Instead, it depicts the structure by which Japanese society is drawn to “simple and strong words” and childish extremes. In addition to chapters on individual figures, the table of contents includes a chapter on the former Unification Church and frameworks such as “to resist childish extremes” and “to avoid losing thoughtfulness,” making the book a study of Japan’s contemporary media environment, social division, and anti-authoritarianism. The book is also significant as a conventional profile-based reportage work written by an author with experience in both newspapers and online media, based on repeated interviews with the subjects and people around them. While discussing each “disliked” figure, it also highlights the weaknesses of Japan’s public discourse and the soil in which populism grows. The reading group will discuss what a “disliked person” is, the role played by tricksters, the interaction between media and public opinion, the politics of conservatism, anti-power sentiment and exposure, and what is needed in order not to lose thoughtfulness. The organizers aim to provide a useful place for learning and dialogue for people interested in Japanese politics, media, populism, and division in contemporary society. Book URL: https://x.gd/AdTl4 Author profile: Satoshi Ishido was born in Tokyo in 1984. After graduating from the College of Law at Ritsumeikan University, he worked as a reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun and BuzzFeed Japan, and now works as a nonfiction writer. Event overview: The theme is a reading group on The True Face of the “Disliked”: Japan’s Tricksters. The organizer is Shosukabu.com Inc., with the Nerima Political Research Association and the Civil Division 8 Monitoring Committee as co-organizers. The event is planned for mid-May 2026 and will be held online via Zoom. Participation is free, with advance registration required. To apply, email info@shosukabu.com with the subject line stating that you wish to participate in the reading group. Lecturer profile: Yutaka Yamanaka, born in December 1976, is introduced in the release as an activist investor, art collector, philanthropist, political activity sponsor, election consultant, policy adviser, social activist, and Akita dog enthusiast representing the 1976 generation. The release describes him internationally as “an activist investor who understands technology” and states that he is the first Japanese person in history to build assets exceeding 150 billion yen through investment alone. According to the release, Yamanaka identified NVIDIA, a developer of GPGPU and artificial intelligence-related semiconductors, as an investment target in the early 2010s, invested more than 2 billion yen, and ultimately achieved returns of more than 100 times his investment, becoming the first Japanese billionaire purely as an investor. He graduated first in his class from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics, earned a master’s degree in financial engineering from Columbia University, and studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is co-representative partner of Investment Brothers LLC, co-founder and chairman of Shosukabu.com Inc., and currently a shareholder in more than 1,000 listed companies and over 200 private companies worldwide. His investments reportedly include AI startups in Israel, healthcare ventures in Nigeria, and battery manufacturers in Taiwan. The release states that Yamanaka, having experienced dyslexia and ADHD in childhood, launched a support program for children with learning disabilities, modeled on U.S. discount brokerage Charles Schwab. It also lists multiple political organizations he founded or represents, including groups advocating a constitutional court in Japan, a tax-free state, early nuclear reactor restarts, monitoring renewable energy interests, opposition to reduced consumption tax rates for food, and constitutional revision toward a unicameral system. The release provides an extensive account of Yamanaka’s family background, education, investment career, and political activity. It states that he was born into the family of HOYA founder Shigeru Yamanaka and raised in Nerima, attended Oizumi Bunka Kindergarten, Ochanomizu University Elementary School, and Musashi Junior and Senior High School, and graduated first in his class from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics. It also describes his childhood cultural and political environment and his early interest in history, economics, and political activism. The release says Yamanaka was already known for his investment ability as a university student, having turned several million yen gifted by his grandmother into several hundred million yen by the time he graduated. At the University of Tokyo, he was known in Kazuo Ueda’s seminar and was nicknamed both a stock trader of the Ueda seminar and “the Heisei-era Hiraga Gennai.” His graduation thesis on prewar paper industry M&A won a special thesis award. He later moved to the United States, completed a master’s degree in financial engineering at Columbia University, and studied or conducted research at institutions including Harvard University, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and LSE. Yamanaka is currently based mainly in Dubai, according to the release, investing through foreign funds and investment companies in listed and private companies in Japan and abroad. The release describes him as one of Japan’s leading activist investors, an expert in practical company law, and a leading figure in new business creation, M&A, technology management, and family business practice. It also states that he has bases and homes in Taipei, Luxembourg, Tbilisi, Oslo, Reykjavik, Singapore, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The release further mentions his strategic advisory roles in election law-related cases and the NHK Party control dispute, and states that he has close ties with Japanese political figures across party lines. It also describes him as well known for consulting on career strategy for lawyers and other professionals and on how companies can effectively work with lawyers. On corporate governance, the release presents Yamanaka as a pioneer of activist investing in Japan. It says he publicly opposed HOYA’s acquisition of Pentax in 2007, later criticized HOYA’s board structure and impact on corporate value, and became active in shareholder proposals from 2010. His proposals included individual disclosure of director compensation, creation of a body composed only of outside directors, limits on outside director reappointments, expansion of shareholder proposal explanation length, prohibitions on certain hedging by stock option holders, 30-day advance notice before directors sell shares, introduction of anonymous voting, and disclosure of public-interest corporation roles held by director candidates. According to the release, five of these proposals received supporting recommendations from Glass Lewis, the Japan Proxy Governance Institute, and ISS, and were reported by media including the Nikkei, Bloomberg, and Toyo Keizai Online. The proposal on individual disclosure of executive compensation reportedly received more than 45% support at the 2010 shareholders’ meeting and more than 48% in 2011. The release also states that Yamanaka later obtained court orders requiring the company to publish the full text and reasons for shareholder proposals, along with multiple judgments related to shareholder proposal practice, influencing the practical operation of Japan’s shareholder proposal system.