Initiation Speech
September 12, 2007
Mr. Yoshiya Hatori,
Mr. Tadasu Kawai
“European Culture Spread on the Backs of Sheep-Bread, Butter, Wine, and Christianity”
Mr. Yoshiya Hatori,
Chairman,
DAIDOH LIMITED
5,000 years ago Iraq was the land of Mesopotamian Culture where sheep were kept, and where bread, wine, butter, and wool carpets were made. People’s lives were rich. Japan was in the Jomon Period.
3,000 years ago, the Jewish peoples led by King David immigrated and created the Kingdom of Judah.
In the year 73 AD, it was attacked by the Romans and the Jewish Army was defeated. The Roman Empire renamed Israel to Palestine. Subsequently, over 1,900 years, the Jewish peoples roamed throughout Europe.
In 1948, with the support of Great Britain and the United States, Israel was reborn, taking over a large part of Palestine. This has been the root of the on-going conflicts between Israel and Palestine.
Going back to the time of the downfall of the kingdom of Judea, at that time Christianity was born. Around 30 AD, after the death of Jesus Christ, this religion spread westward into the Mediterranean countries and even became the state religion of ancient Rome. Of course, bread, butter, cheese, wine, wool, and Christianity also spread to lands from Western Europe and the Isle of Britain with the Roman expeditionary armies.
In this way, the living style of Europe was brought about with Christianity from Mesopotamia on the backs of sheep.
From the Middle Ages to the modern age, remarkable improvements to wool and wine have been made. In wool, Merino wools were perfected in the Iberian Peninsula. Around the time of Philip II, it was transported to South Africa, a Dutch colony and subsequently to Australia, a British colony. About 200 years ago, it was the era of Pax Britannica. To add, it was Christopher Columbus who brought richness in food to the Europeans. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Age of Discovery, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, sugar, coffee, and tobacco were brought to Europe.
Especially, potatoes saved the peoples of Germany, England, and Northern Europe from hunger where it was difficult to grow wheat, which continues to this day.
“Internet Securities and the Individual Investor”
Mr. Tadasu Kawai,
Standing Statutory Auditor,
Monex Beans Holdings, Inc.
1.The birth of Internet securities
The specialized Internet securities companies were established from October 1999 after the complete liberalization of securities in the same year when commissions became able to be set freely by the securities companies.
The specialized Internet securities companies, in principle, conduct their trades in stocks, etc. over the Internet. The biggest advantage enjoyed by specialized Internet securities companies is the low level of fees due to the low costs, other than the initial system building costs.
The dramatic reductions in commissions induced novice investors into the stock market who had not invested in the stock markets until then, and gave birth to individual day-traders who engage in multiple transactions during the day.
2.Current status of Internet securities
The number of accounts held at the 5 Internet securities companies totaled roughly 4.2 million and adding the accounts at the specialized Internet subsidiary of Nomura Securities, the 6 companies account for roughly 70% of all total individual trading amounts over the 3 TSE markets and JASDAQ and 90% of all trades are via the Internet.
Currently, bank deposits and postal savings account for half of the composition of household assets in Japan. Compared with 13% for the United States, it is extremely high. On the other hand, the proportion accounted for by stocks, mutual funds, and bonds is 19% in Japan, compared with 52% in the United States. From this, it can be thought that the likelihood of a shift in personal assets from bank deposits and postal savings to stocks, and mutual funds is extremely high.
3.Future of Internet Securities
With the Livedoor shock, the personal trading values over the 3 TSE markets and JASDAQ that had been around \2.3 trillion in January 2006 declined to less than half of that amount, and even now it is still below 60% of the peak level. New account openings have also dropped dramatically. In the future, Internet securities will need to offer new and innovative original products and services, make a shift toward asset management rather than being reliant solely on cheaper commissions.