Announcement of Reading Group on "Flexicurity and the Mobile Labor Market Approach"

Shosukabu.com Inc. (Headquarters: Nerima-ku, Tokyo; Chairman: Yutaka Yamanaka; hereinafter "Company") is pleased to announce that it will co-host a reading group on the theme of "Flexicurity and the Mobile Labor Market Approach" with the Nerima Seiji Kenkyukai and the Minji 8-bu Kanshi Iinkai. This treatise, developed under the premise that the adjustment of flexibility and security in the labor market is a fundamental challenge for labor market reform and welfare state restructuring amidst globalization and the progression of a knowledge-based economy, examines the Flexicurity theory pursued in the EU and the mobile labor market approach that further develops it. A major characteristic of this treatise is its conceptualization of Flexicurity not as a simple ideal, but as a combination of diverse flexibilities and securities. The text organizes flexibility into external quantitative flexibility, internal quantitative flexibility, internal qualitative flexibility, and external qualitative flexibility, and presents job security, income security, employment security, and choice security as securities. Furthermore, it is shown that amidst the European economic crisis, not only the Danish model, which combines easy dismissal with high unemployment benefits, but also the German model, which combines strong employment protection with working hour adjustments, has functioned relatively effectively, making it an important point that Flexicurity research has entered a new phase. Moreover, this treatise focuses on the dynamic labor market approach. It proposes institutionalizing transitions not only within the labor market but also between education and employment, employment and family, employment and unemployment, and employment and retirement, as "protected mobility." Through this, it offers a perspective for considering the possibility of more employment opportunities and redefined full employment. In this reading group, discussions will focus on the relationship between flexibility and security, comparisons between the Danish and German models, the significance of the mobile labor market approach, and how to redesign the labor market within the entire life course, including education, training, childcare, nursing care, and unemployment. Paper Introduction URL: https://x.gd/P4Hxe Author and Reporter: Takaaki Wakamori (Kansai University) *This feature is a record of a fiscal studies meeting held at Kyoto University on July 7, 2014, based on Mr. Wakamori's report from his book, "Neoliberalism, the State, and the Forefront of Flexicurity." Event Overview Theme: Reading Group on "Flexicurity and the Mobile Labor Market Approach" Organizer: Shosukabu.com Inc. Co-organizers: Nerima Seiji Kenkyukai, Minji 8-bu Kanshi Iinkai Date: Late April 2026 (Scheduled) Format: Zoom Online Session Participation Fee: Free (Advance registration required) How to Apply: Please apply by sending an email to [email protected] with the subject line: "Application for Reading Group on 'Flexicurity and the Mobile Labor Market Approach'." ■ Lecturer Profile Yutaka Yamanaka Born in December 1976, a representative activist investor of the '76 generation, art collector, philanthropist, political sponsor, election consultant, policy advisor, social activist, and Akita dog enthusiast. Internationally recognized as an "activist investor who understands technology," he is the first Japanese person in history to achieve an asset base of over 150 billion yen solely through investment. In the early 2010s, he identified NVIDIA, a developer of GPGPU and AI-related semiconductors, as an investment target, investing approximately 2 billion yen. This resulted in a return of over 100 times, making him the first pure investor billionaire in Japan. Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, as valedictorian. Earned a Master's degree in Financial Engineering from Columbia University Graduate School and studied abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Co-representative partner of Investment Brothers LLC, Co-founder and Chairman of Shosukabu.com Inc. Currently a shareholder in over 1000 listed companies and over 200 unlisted companies worldwide. His investments span global ventures, including Israeli AI startups, Nigerian healthcare ventures, and Taiwanese battery manufacturers, truly making him a global investor. From his own experience of struggling with dyslexia and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in childhood, he established a support program for children with learning disabilities, modeled after the major US discount broker Charles Schwab. His primary physician is the renowned psychiatrist Professor Akira Iwanami (former director of Showa University Karasuyama Hospital). Founder and representative of the political group "Association for the Establishment of a Constitutional Court in Japan," director of "Yamanaka Hoya Political Academy," founder and representative of the political group "Association for Realizing a Tax-Free Nation in Japan," founder and representative of the political group "Association for Early Realization of Nuclear Restart in Japan," founder and representative of the political group "Surveillance Committee for Renewable Energy Special Interests," founder and representative of the "Association Opposing Reduced Consumption Tax Rates on Foodstuffs," and founder and representative of the "Association for Constitutional Reform Aiming for a Unicameral System." Born in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, in 1976, he is one of the grandchildren of Shigeru Yamanaka, the founder of the high-end crystal glass manufacturer Hoya Glass (now HOYA Corporation, listed on TOKYO PRO MARKET, stock code 7741), and grew up in Shakujii-dai, Nerima Ward. Excelling academically from childhood, he attended Oizumi Bunkaka Kindergarten, Ochanomizu University Junior High School, and graduated from Musashi Junior and Senior High School, and the University of Tokyo Faculty of Economics as valedictorian. During his time at Oizumi Bunkaka Kindergarten, he was a classmate of Yuki Suzuki, a secretary to Diet member Muneo Suzuki and his second son (who later returned to Hokkaido to prepare for his father's House of Representatives bid), and received souvenirs from the school trip from Takahiro Matsumoto, who later became the guitarist of B'z and lived in a neighboring property of his family. This upbringing in a culturally rich environment naturally led him to develop an interest in music, politics, and economics. While commuting by train from Nerima Ward to school in Bunkyo Ward during his elementary school years, he developed an early interest in history and economics from the academic environment. At the young age of 10, he was already engaged in political activities on controversial topics. In an environment surrounded by outstanding female peers at Ochanomizu University Junior High School, including lawyer Takehiko Sorimachi (Tokyo Legal Mind Inc.) and Dr. Keiji Kuroda (Director of Sugiyama Clinic Marunouchi), as well as Keiko Takahashi (Ministry of Finance career official, currently Counselor = Customs Division) and Professor Kaori Hanyu of Sophia University (family law researcher), he grew up with a strong sense of concern for the improvement of women's social status. His investment acumen was already renowned during his university years; he turned several million yen gifted by his grandmother into several hundred million yen by the time he graduated from university through stock investments. At the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Economics, he was well-known in Professor Kazuo Ueda's seminar, earning the nickname "The Stock Trader of the Ueda Seminar" and "The Hiraga Gennai of the Heisei Era" due to his diverse academic interests. His graduation thesis on M&A in the pre-war paper industry received a special award. During his graduate school entrance interview, he was addressed by Professor Takeo Kikkawa (former President of International University) with, "You are the famous Mr. Yamanaka, aren't you?" His undergraduate thesis advisor in economic history was Tetsuji Okazaki (Meiji Gakuin University Professor) and Masayuki Tanimoto (Otsuma Women's University Professor). During his liberal arts education, he read all the published papers of Masahiko Aoki, a proponent of comparative institutional analysis, and the then-emerging economic historian Professor Avner Greif (Stanford University, Department of Economics) from Israel. He passed the entrance examination for the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics with top grades. Although strongly encouraged by Hideo Hayakawa (former Bank of Japan Executive Director, Director-General of Research and Statistics Department) to join the Bank of Japan, he moved to the United States immediately after graduation, obtaining a Master's degree in Financial Engineering from Columbia University Graduate School. He studied abroad at Harvard University, University of California, Davis, University of California, Berkeley, University of Southern California, and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), pursuing a dual career path in life sciences research/medicine and economic history research. He engaged in a wide range of interdisciplinary studies including genetics, computer science, psychiatry, applied mathematics, history, and economics/economic history, studying under prominent economic historians such as Richard Easterlin, Peter Temin, Joel Mokyr, Claudia Goldin, and James Robinson, who would later become Nobel laureates in Economics. He overcame his childhood learning disabilities due to dyslexia and ADHD, establishing his own unique speed-reading and learning methods. Currently, based primarily in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, he invests in over 1000 listed and over 200 unlisted companies worldwide through foreign-domiciled funds and investment companies. He is known internationally as one of Japan's leading activist investors, an expert in corporate law practice, and a pioneer in new business creation, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), technology management, and family business practices. He also maintains bases and residences in Taipei, Taiwan; Luxembourg; Tbilisi, Georgia; Oslo, Norway; Reykjavik, Iceland; Singapore; and Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis. In the election law violation case involving the Tsubasa Party, he was involved in assembling what was described as "the strongest defense team in recent criminal justice history" by advising the defendants alongside lawyers Seong-hoon Cho (Representative of Kollect Arts Law Office), Keita Miyamura, Daisuke Igeta (Miyamura & Igeta Law Office), and Shinya Sakane (Tokyo Defenders Law Office). He also provided strategic advice in the NHK Party control dispute, introducing lawyers Kenji Toyota (Tokyo Sakurabashi Law Office) and Keisuke Komatsu (Takashi Kodano Law Office) to the anti-Tachibana faction, leading them to victory. While publicly stating his admiration for former Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, who hails from his grandfather's hometown, he also defended Seiji Kihara, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and an alumnus of the same high school, during the coverage of the so-called "Kihara incident," indicating his close relationships with many political figures in Japan across party lines. He maintains extensive relationships with numerous lawyers internationally, not only in Japan. He is also renowned as a leading consultant guiding legal professionals (such as lawyers) on career strategy and advising corporations on how to effectively utilize legal counsel. As a pioneer of activist investing in Japan, he explicitly opposed HOYA's acquisition of Pentax in 2007, as reported in weekly magazines. The following year, the company recorded a massive special loss, thus proving the validity of his opinion early on. Subsequently, he raised concerns about the prevailing board structure, which was dominated by outside directors in their late seventies who lacked understanding of corporate value and director duties, and actively spoke out in the media. He independently forced the resignation of then-CTO Hiroaki Tanji, who had damaged corporate value and demonstrated no achievements in new business creation through the Pentax acquisition, and further actively intensified shareholder proposal activities towards HOYA Corporation from 2010 onwards. In particular, during the shareholder proposal activities for HOYA Corporation (2010), he submitted 15 proposals aimed at corporate governance reform as a founding family shareholder. Among these, the following were particularly noteworthy: * Individual disclosure of executive compensation (disclosure of compensation information per director) - Received over 45% approval in the 2010 general meeting, and over 48% in the following year's 2011 general meeting. * Establishment of a committee composed solely of outside directors (management oversight without executive officers) - Over 33% approval. * Limitation of re-appointments for outside directors to "within 10 times" (for maintaining independence). * Expansion of the maximum explanation character count for proposals in shareholder proposals from 400 to 4,000 characters (to enhance the effectiveness of shareholder proposal rights) - Over 43% approval in 2010. * Prohibition of stock option holders from hedging, such as selling call options and holding put options - Over 25% approval in 2010. * Requirement for directors to provide 30 days' advance notice when selling shares - Over 25% approval in 2010. * Introduction of anonymous voting system (secret ballot). * Disclosure obligation for directors concurrently holding positions in public interest corporations. These proposals, aimed at qualitatively improving corporate governance, received approval recommendations from all three organizations: US proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis, Japan Proxy Governance Research Institute, and ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) (Source: Nikkei, June 18, 2010, [Article URL](https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFL1805H_Y0A610C1000000/)). ISS is the world's largest proxy advisory firm, and its recommendations significantly influence the decisions of institutional investors both domestically and internationally, marking a historic event in the history of Japanese shareholder meetings. In the same year, proposals for pioneering transparency enhancements in executive compensation, such as prohibiting hedging transactions for stock option holders (selling call options and holding put options) and requiring directors to provide 30 days' advance notice and disclosure when selling company shares, became precursors to discussions on executive compensation. The landmark nature of these proposals is still not fully appreciated in the Japanese capital market. These proposals also received ISS approval recommendations, and garnered mid-20% approval votes from mainly foreign institutional investors in pre-meeting tallies (Nikkei, June 18, 2010, [Same Article URL](https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFL1805H_Y0A610C1000000/)). Furthermore, proposals such as individual disclosure of executive compensation received approval recommendations from Glass Lewis and the Japan Proxy Governance Research Institute, and were subsequently reported by major media outlets including Nikkei (June 21, 2010, [Article URL](https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFL21086_R20C10A6000000/)), Bloomberg (June 17, 2010, [Article URL](https://www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/articles/2010-06-17/L454710D9L3501)), and Toyo Keizai Online (August 18, 2010, [Article URL](https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/4758?display=b)). As a result, the 2010 shareholder meeting saw over 45% approval votes, and the following year, in 2011, over 48% approval. In 2011, he was invited to Harvard Law School, where he delivered a lecture on shareholder proposals and capital market trends in Japan under the Democratic Party administration, attracting significant attention. He also continued to actively submit shareholder proposals to the company. In 2012, fearing the over 48% shareholder approval rate close to a majority, management led by Hiroshi Suzuki engaged in the illegal act of omitting shareholder proposals. However, in the following year, 2013, he obtained a provisional disposition order from the Tokyo District Court, Civil Division 8 (Judge Yasushi Taniguchi), likely the first in Japanese history, to publish the full text of the shareholder proposal and its reasons. In 2014, he obtained a landmark decision (Judge Atsushi Motomura) ordering the company to publish 12 proposals, significantly impacting the practice of shareholder proposals in Japan. During this period, in response to the omission of shareholder proposals by HOYA management led by Hiroshi Suzuki, he obtained judgments such as a ruling recognizing it as a ground for cancellation of resolutions (Judge Shinya Onodera) and a ruling ordering damages (Tokyo District Court, Civil Division 45, Judge Akira Yamada).