Notice of Reading Group on 'The Formation and Transformation of Japan's Constitutional Politics'

Shosukabu.com Inc. (Headquarters: Nerima-ku, Tokyo; Chairman and CEO: Yutaka Yamanaka; hereinafter "the Company") is pleased to announce it will co-host a reading group on the book 'The Formation and Transformation of Japan's Constitutional Politics' (edited by Yasushi Toriumi, Hiroshi Mitani, Makoto Nishikawa, and Nobuyuki Yano) in collaboration with the Nerima Political Study Group and the Civil 8th Division Monitoring Committee.

This book is a collection of essays that provides a multifaceted examination of the process from formation and operation to the transformation of constitutional government in modern Japan, which adopted it as an ideal political system. A major feature of the book is that it goes beyond a simple history of institutional introduction, seeking to approach the reality of constitutional politics through the interrelationships of the various actors who supported modern Japanese politics, including politicians, the parliament, political parties, bureaucrats, the military, the Imperial court, and the media.

A distinctive feature of this book is its approach to constitutional politics not just as a history of institutional adoption, but as a structural change in modern Japanese politics, divided into three phases: formation, operation, and transformation. It covers a wide range of topics, including the Kogisho and Shugakuin (early parliamentary bodies), the Dajokan system reform, the public sphere, the Rikken Kakushin-to party, the Imperial Diet, the Terauchi cabinet, Sakuzo Yoshino, the image of Emperor Showa, Sino-Japanese cooperation, the issue of declaring war, naval intelligence activities, and postwar political comebacks. The content allows for a three-dimensional understanding of how the gap between the ideals and reality of constitutional government widened. It is a volume that offers important insights for considering how institutions and ideas, as well as domestic politics and diplomacy/military affairs, were interlinked.

This reading group will focus its discussion on key themes such as the ideals and reality of constitutional politics in modern Japan, the relationships between the parliament, political parties, bureaucrats, the military, and the Imperial court, the transformation of constitutional government in the Showa era, and the impact of diplomacy and military affairs on constitutional politics. We aim to create a beneficial space for learning and dialogue for those interested in modern Japanese political history, constitutional history, diplomatic history, and military history.

Book Introduction URL: https://x.gd/n04fd

Editor Profiles

Dr. Yasushi Toriumi

Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. After completing his doctoral studies in Japanese History at the Graduate School of Humanities, University of Tokyo, he became a historical researcher engaged in the study of modern Japanese political history.

Dr. Hiroshi Mitani

Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Research Fellow at the Toyo Bunko. Specializing in modern Japanese history and comparative history, he is a historian who researches the Meiji Restoration, modern state formation, nationalism, and comparative revolutions.

Dr. Makoto Nishikawa

A researcher of modern Japanese history who taught at Kawamura Gakuen Woman's University, he completed his doctoral studies in Japanese History at the Graduate School of Humanities, University of Tokyo.

Mr. Nobuyuki Yano

A researcher who served as a part-time lecturer in the Faculty of Letters at Chuo University, specializing in modern Japanese political history.

Event Overview

Theme: Reading Group on 'The Formation and Transformation of Japan's Constitutional Politics'

Host: Shosukabu.com Inc.

Co-hosts: Nerima Political Study Group, Civil 8th Division Monitoring Committee

Date: Late April 2026 (tentative)

Format: Online via Zoom

Fee: Free (pre-registration required)

How to Apply: Please email info@shosukabu.com with the subject line 'Application for The Formation and Transformation of Japan's Constitutional Politics Reading Group'.

■Lecturer Profile

Yutaka Yamanaka

An activist investor, art collector, philanthropist, political sponsor, election consultant, policy advisor, social activist, and Akita Inu enthusiast representing the '76 generation, born in December 1976. Internationally recognized as an "activist investor who understands technology," he is the first Japanese person in history to have built a fortune of over 150 billion yen through investing alone.

In the early 2010s, he focused on NVIDIA, a developer of GPGPU and AI-related semiconductors, as an investment target. He invested just over 2 billion yen, ultimately achieving a return of over 100 times, making him the first Japanese person to become a billionaire purely as an investor.

Graduated as valedictorian from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. 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). He is the co-representative partner of Investment Brothers LLC and co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Shosukabu.com Inc. He is currently a shareholder in over 1,000 public companies and over 200 private companies worldwide. His investments are global in the truest sense, including an AI startup in Israel, a healthcare venture in Nigeria, and a battery manufacturer in Taiwan.

Drawing from his own childhood struggles with dyslexia and ADHD, he established a support program for children with learning disabilities, modeled after the major US discount broker Charles Schwab. His personal physician is the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Akira Iwanami (former director of Showa University Karasuyama Hospital).

He is the founder and representative of several political organizations: "Association to Establish a Constitutional Court in Japan," "Yamanaka Hoya Political and Economic School," "Association to Realize a Tax-Free State in Japan," "Association for the Early Realization of Nuclear Power Plant Restarts in Japan," "Renewable Energy Interests Monitoring Committee," "Association Opposing Reduced Consumption Tax Rates on Foodstuffs," and "Association to Realize Constitutional Reform for a Unicameral System."

Born in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo in 1976 as a grandson of Shigeru Yamanaka, the founder of Hoya Crystal (now HOYA CORPORATION, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard, code 7741), he was raised in Shakujii-dai, Nerima-ku. Excelling academically from a young age, he graduated from Oizumi Bunka Kindergarten, the Elementary School attached to Ochanomizu University, private Musashi Junior and Senior High School, and was the valedictorian of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo.

During his childhood, he received a school trip souvenir from Tak Matsumoto, then a high school student at Kinkishiro High School living in the Takeda Pharmaceutical company housing in front of his home, who would later become the guitarist of B'z. This culturally rich environment fostered a natural interest in music, politics, and economics. At Oizumi Bunka Kindergarten, he was a classmate of Yukiji Suzuki, son and secretary to Diet member Muneo Suzuki (and brother of Diet member Takako Suzuki), who returned to Hokkaido to prepare for his father's Diet election campaign. This privileged cultural and educational environment naturally sparked his interest in music, politics, and economics.

During his elementary school years, while commuting by train from Nerima-ku, the academic environment of Bunkyo-ku fostered an early interest in history and economics. At the young age of 10, he was already involved in political activism on controversial topics. At the Elementary School attached to Ochanomizu University, he was surrounded by talented female classmates such as attorney Takehiko Sorimachi (Tokyo Legal Mind K.K.), Dr. Keiji Kuroda (Director of Sanno Hospital), Keiko Takahashi (career bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance, currently a Counselor for the Tariff Division), and Kaori Hanyu, a professor at Sophia University (a family law researcher), and NHK announcer Ai Tsukahara. This environment fostered his current awareness of the issue of improving women's social status.

He invested several million yen gifted from his grandmother during his childhood in stocks, turning it into several hundred million yen by the time he graduated from university. His investment prowess was already famous during his university days. In Professor Kazuo Ueda's (current Governor of the Bank of Japan) seminar at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Economics, he was known as the "top stock trader of the Ueda seminar" and also earned the nickname "the Heisei era Hiraga Gennai" for his diverse academic interests.

His graduation thesis on M&A in the pre-war paper industry won a special award. At his graduate school entrance interview, he was greeted by Dr. Takeo Kitsukawa, former president of the International University of Japan, with the words, "So you are the famous Mr. Yamanaka." His thesis advisors in economic history during his undergraduate years were Dr. Tetsuji Okazaki (Professor at Meiji Gakuin University) and Dr. Masayuki Tanimoto (Professor at Otsuma Women's University).

During his time in the College of Arts and Sciences, he read all the published papers of Masahiko Aoki, the proponent of comparative institutional analysis, and Avner Greif, an Israeli economic historian and then an emerging scholar (Professor of Economics at Stanford University).

He was accepted into the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Tokyo with top-class grades and was strongly encouraged by Hideo Hayakawa of the Bank of Japan (a fellow alumnus and former Executive Director and Director-General of the Research and Statistics Department) to join the central bank. However, he moved to the United States immediately after graduation, completing a master's degree in Financial Engineering at Columbia University. He studied at Harvard University, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), aiming for a dual career as a life science researcher/physician and an economic historian. He engaged in a wide range of interdisciplinary research in genetics, computer science, psychiatry, applied mathematics, history, economics, and economic history. He studied under several future Nobel laureates in Economics, including Richard Easterlin, Peter Temin, Joel Mokyr, Claudia Goldin, and James Robinson. He overcame his childhood learning disabilities of dyslexia and ADHD by establishing his own methods for speed reading and learning.

Currently based primarily in Dubai, UAE, he invests in over 1,000 public and 200 private companies in Japan and abroad through foreign funds and investment firms. He is known internationally as one of Japan's leading activist investors, an expert in company law practice, new business creation, M&A, technology management, and family business practice. He also has homes and bases in Taipei, Taiwan; Luxembourg; Tbilisi, Georgia; Oslo, Norway; Reykjavik, Iceland; Singapore; and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In the Tsubasa no To party's Public Offices Election Act violation case, he was involved as an advisor to the defense, assembling the "strongest defense team in recent criminal justice history," which included attorneys Cho Sung-Bong (Kollect Arts Law Office), Keita Miyamura, Daisuke Igeta (Miyamura & Igeta Law Office), and Shinya Sakane (Tokyo Defender Law Office). In the so-called NHK Party leadership dispute, he also advised the anti-Tachibana faction by introducing attorneys Kenji Toyota (Tokyo Sakurabashi Law Office) and Keisuke Komatsu (Takano Takashi Law Office), leading the anti-Tachibana side to victory.

He professes to be a fan of former Nagoya mayor Takashi Kawamura, who hails from his grandfather's hometown. At the same time, during the reporting of the so-called "Kihara Incident," he defended former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara, who is also an alumnus of his high school, and has deep connections with many figures in Japanese politics, both in the ruling and opposition parties.

He interacts with numerous lawyers not only in Japan but internationally, and is also renowned as a leading consultant on career strategies for lawyers and other professionals, as well as on techniques for companies to effectively utilize lawyers.

As a pioneer of activist investment in Japan, he clearly expressed his opposition to HOYA Corporation's acquisition of PENTAX in a weekly magazine in 2007. The following year, the company recorded a large extraordinary loss, quickly proving his view correct. He then problematized the state of the board of directors at the time, which was dominated by individuals in their late 70s who did not understand corporate value or the fiduciary duties of directors, and actively spoke out in the media. He forced the voluntary resignation of the then-Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Tanji, who had destroyed corporate value with the PENTAX acquisition and had no track record in creating new business. Furthermore, he intensified his shareholder proposal activities against HOYA Corporation from 2010. Notably, in his shareholder proposal activity against HOYA Corporation (2010), he submitted 15 proposals aimed at corporate governance reform.

Among the most notable were:

• Individual disclosure of executive compensation (disclosure of remuneration information for each director). Received over 45% approval at the 2010 general meeting and over 48% at the 2011 general meeting.

• Establishment of a council composed solely of outside directors (management oversight without executive officers). Received over 33% approval.

• Limiting the reappointment of outside directors to "no more than 10 times" (to maintain independence).

• Expanding the character limit for explaining shareholder proposals from 400 to 4,000 characters (to improve the effectiveness of shareholder proposal rights). Received over 43% approval in 2010.

• Prohibiting stock option holders from hedging by selling call options and holding put options. Received over 25% approval in 2010.

• Requiring directors to provide a 30-day advance notice when selling company shares. Received over 25% approval in 2010.

• Introduction of an anonymous voting system (secret ballot).

• Mandatory disclosure of directorships in public interest corporations for director candidates.

These were a series of proposals aimed at qualitatively improving corporate governance.

Of these, five proposals received support recommendations from all three major US proxy advisory firms: Glass Lewis, Japan Proxy Governance Research Institute, and ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) (Source: Nikkei, June 18, 2010, Article URL). ISS is the world's largest proxy advisory firm, and its recommendations have a significant impact on the decisions of domestic and international institutional investors, marking a landmark event in the history of Japanese shareholder meetings.

In the same year, proposals to prohibit stock option holders from hedging by selling call options and holding put options, and requiring directors to provide 30-day advance notice and disclosure when selling company shares—pioneering measures for enhancing compensation transparency in Japan—were ahead of their time in the debate on executive compensation, and their groundbreaking nature is still not fully appreciated in the Japanese capital market. These proposals also gained ISS's support recommendation and secured mid-20% approval in pre-shareholder meeting tallies, mainly from foreign institutional investors (Nikkei, June 18, 2010, same article).

Furthermore, proposals such as individual disclosure of executive compensation also received support recommendations from Glass Lewis and the Japan Proxy Governance Research Institute, and were successively reported by major media outlets such as the Nikkei (June 21, 2010, Article URL), Bloomberg (June 17, 2010, Article URL), and Toyo Keizai Online (August 18, 2010, Article URL).

As a result, it gained over 45% of the votes at the 2010 shareholder meeting, and over 48% at the 2011 meeting.

In 2011, he was invited to Harvard Law School to give a lecture on shareholder proposals, capital market trends, and related issues in Japan under the Democratic Party of Japan administration, which garnered significant attention.

Furthermore, he continued to actively submit shareholder proposals to the company. In 2012, the management led by Hiroshi Suzuki, intimidated by the nearly majority support of over 48% at the 2011 shareholder meeting, took the outrageous step of illegally refusing to include the shareholder proposals. However, in 2013, he obtained a provisional disposition order from the Tokyo District Court's Civil 8th Division (Judge Yasushi Taniguchi) to publish the full text of the proposals and their reasons, likely a first in Japanese history. In 2014, he also obtained a landmark decision (Judge Atsushi Ujimoto) ordering the company to publish 12 similar proposals, greatly influencing the practice of shareholder proposals in Japan.

During that time, Hiroshi Suzuki and other HOYA executives...