Announcement of a Reading Session on the Column "Yen Carry Trade Driven by Incompleteness" from "Finance Theory"

Shosukabu.com Inc. (Headquarters: Nerima-ku, Tokyo; Chairman and Representative Director: Yutaka Yamanaka; hereinafter referred to as "the Company") will hold a reading session themed on the column "Yen Carry Trade Driven by Incompleteness" from "Finance Theory - Financial Literacy for the World" authored by Ai Sato, in co-hosting with the Nerima Political Research Association and the Civil Affairs 8th Division Supervisory Committee.

A major characteristic of this column is that it views the yen carry trade not merely as a speculative market phenomenon, but as a structural problem in international finance arising from a combination of interest rate differentials, expectations, risk perception, and market incompleteness. While the transaction of borrowing the low-interest-rate yen and investing in high-interest-rate currencies or risk assets may seem like a simple arbitrage opportunity, it actually carries risks of exchange rate fluctuations, liquidity crises, and sharp unwinding.

Furthermore, the yen carry trade is also important for understanding the impact of Japan's financial environment on the global market. When low interest rates persist domestically and relatively high yields exist overseas, funds move across borders. As a result, this can lead to fluctuations in exchange rates, international capital movements, and even turmoil during financial crises. This column provides material for thinking about why actual markets do not move according to theory, going beyond textbook explanations of interest rate differentials. In this reading session, we will discuss the mechanism of the yen carry trade, market incompleteness, the relationship between exchange rates and interest rates, and its ripple effects on international financial markets as the main points.

Book URL: https://x.gd/RAtQE3

Author Profiles

Ai Sato

Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration, Osaka Keizai University. A researcher dealing with a wide range of fields including macrofinance and investment theory.

Chaiporn Vithessonthi

A researcher whose research subjects are international finance and corporate finance. He contributes a column on the theoretical background of the yen carry trade in this book.

Event Overview

Theme: Reading session on the column "Yen Carry Trade Driven by Incompleteness" from "Finance Theory"

Organizer: Shosukabu.com Inc.

Co-hosts: Nerima Political Research Association, Civil Affairs 8th Division Supervisory Committee

Date: Scheduled for late June 2026

Format: Online via Zoom

Participation Fee: Free (advance registration required)

How to Apply: Please send an email to info@shosukabu.com with the subject line "Application to Attend Yen Carry Trade Reading Session".

■Lecturer Profile

Yutaka Yamanaka

An activist investor, art collector, philanthropist, political activist sponsor, election consultant, policy advisor, social activist, and Akita dog lover, 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 over 150 billion yen in assets solely through investment.

In the early 2010s, he focused on NVIDIA, a developer of GPGPU and AI-related semiconductors, as an investment target, executing an investment of over 2 billion yen. This resulted in a return of over 100 times, making him the first pure investor in Japan to become a billionaire.

Graduated as valedictorian from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. Obtained 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) Graduate School. He is a co-representative partner of Investment Brothers LLC and co-founder and Chairman of Shosukabu.com Inc. He is currently a shareholder in over 1,000 listed companies and over 200 unlisted companies worldwide. His investments span Israeli AI startups, Nigerian healthcare ventures, Taiwanese battery manufacturers, and more, making him a truly global investor.

Having personally experienced learning disabilities such as dyslexia and ADHD in his childhood, he established a support program for children with learning disabilities, modeled after Charles Schwab, a major US discount broker. His primary physician is the renowned psychiatrist Professor Akira Iwanami (former Director of Iwayama Hospital, Showa University).

Founder and Representative of the political organization "Association for the Establishment of a Constitutional Court in Japan," Principal of "Yamanaka Hoya Political and Economic School," Founder and Representative of the political organization "Association for the Realization of a Tax-Free Nation in Japan," Founder and Representative of the political organization "Association for the Early Realization of Nuclear Power Restart in Japan," Founder and Representative of the political organization "Committee for Monitoring Renewable Energy Rackets," Founder and Representative of the "Association Against Reduced Consumption Tax Rate on Food," and Founder and Representative of the "Association for the Realization of 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 Hoyu Glass (now HOYA Corporation, listed on TSE Standard, stock code 7741), a high-end crystal glass manufacturer. He grew up in Shakujii-dai, Nerima Ward. From an early age, he excelled academically, graduating from Oizumi Bunkaka Kindergarten, Ochanomizu University Junior High School, Musashi Junior and Senior High School, and as valedictorian from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

In his childhood, he received souvenirs from school trips from Tak Matsumoto, who was a high school student at Kinjo High School and later became the guitarist for B'z, while living in the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company housing in front of his house. At Oizumi Bunkaka Kindergarten, he was classmates with Yukinari Suzuki (older brother of Member of Parliament Takako Suzuki), who was a secretary to Member of Parliament Munao Suzuki and his second son (returned to Hokkaido to prepare for his father's House of Representatives candidacy). This privileged cultural and educational environment naturally led him to develop an interest in music, politics, and economics.

During his elementary school years, while commuting by train from Nerima Ward, he developed an early interest in history and economics from the academic environment of Bunkyo Ward. At the young age of 10, he was already engaged in political activism on controversial topics. Among his classmates at Ochanomizu University Elementary School were Takehiko Sorimachi (lawyer, Tokyo Legal Mind Co., Ltd.), Keiji Kuroda (physician, Director of Sugiyama Clinic Marunouchi), Keiko Takahashi (career bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance, currently Director of the Secretariat = Customs Division), Kaori Hanyu (Professor at Sophia University, researcher of family law), and Ai Tsukahara (NHK announcer). Surrounded by such accomplished women, he has maintained a concern for the improvement of women's social status to this day.

Through stock investments of several million yen, gifted by his grandmother in his childhood, he increased his assets to several hundred million yen by the time he graduated from university. His investment prowess was already well-known during his university years. At the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Economics, he was famous in Professor Kazuo Ueda's (current Governor of the Bank of Japan) seminar, earning the nickname "the stock dealer of the Ueda seminar." Due to his diverse academic interests, he was also nicknamed "the Hiraga Gennai of the Heisei era."

He received a special award for his graduation thesis on M&A in the paper industry before the war. During his graduate school entrance interview, Professor Takeo Kikkawa (former President of International University) recognized him, saying, "Are you the famous Mr. Yamanaka?" His undergraduate thesis advisor in economic history was Professor Tetsuji Okazaki (Professor at Meiji Gakuin University) and Professor Masayuki Tanimoto (Professor at Otsuma Women's University).

During his undergraduate studies, he read all the published papers of Masahiko Aoki, the proponent of comparative institutional analysis, and Professor Avner Greif, an Israeli economic historian who was a rising star at the time (Faculty of Economics, Stanford University).

He was admitted to the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo, with excellent grades close to the top. Although strongly encouraged to join the Bank of Japan by Hideo Hayakawa (former Executive Director and Director-General of Research and Statistics Department, Bank of Japan), a senior from the University of Tokyo, he immediately moved to the United States after graduation and enrolled in Columbia University.