"This is fine" ~ The Genius Bakabon's Papa Knows Everything ~ [Kō Mori]

Mori Akira's Profile

Economist. Affiliated with a think tank (United States). Specializes in exchange rate policy, monetary policy, macroeconomic policy, and financial regulation. Interacts with market participants, financial authorities, and policy makers, analyzing exchange rate trends from multiple perspectives.

*This article is a reprint and edited version of an article from FX攻略.com, October 2019 issue. Please note that the market information described in the text may differ from current market conditions.

Trivia and snippets of knowledge can be very useful for starting conversations with people you meet for the first time. When chatting with businesspeople, talking about the origins of company names can liven up the conversation.

For example, the name of Nichiyu Co., Ltd. comes from the idea of putting eye contact lenses into the eye, and the name of Bridgestone Co., Ltd. comes from the president's surname being Ishibashi. When you engage in such small talk, the person you’re talking to might say, “Interesting, there are various origins for company names.” Moreover, in my experience, when sharing these kinds of stories, researching not only the origins of the companies but also their history makes it even more effective.

Anyway, I have lived in the United States for quite a long time now. I have experienced various culture shocks. There were many occasions that reminded me how tough it can be to survive. Once, in a large city, when I tried to withdraw dollars from a major bank’s ATM, the ATM displayed a message that there were no dollar bills and I could not withdraw money. Such things would likely become a social issue in Japan… (During Golden Week, a major Japanese bank faced the same issue and it was quickly picked up by the media).

Nevertheless, in this issue I would like to set aside difficult financial topics and write about currency trivia.