My Money Literacy [Fudou Shutaro]

Compared to Westerners, Japanese people are not very proactive in investment activities. On the other hand, times are coming when one must increase assets through one's own efforts, due to issues such as retirement and wage disparity. This time, we will learn about the current state of Japan's money literacy from Shutaro Fudō.

*This article is a re-edited version of a February 2020 article from FX攻略.com. Please note that the market information described in the main text may differ from the current market.

Shutaro Fudō (Fudō Shutaro) Profile

Forex instructor, author. Releases seminar DVDs and interview CDs from publishers. In addition to lectures at financial exchanges, stock exchanges, FX brokers, and mutual fund companies, he writes for magazines and serves as a school instructor for FX and stocks.

Official site：Shutarō Fudō’s “Behind the News Reporting”
Twitter：https://twitter.com/syutaro_fudo

My Childhood Money Literacy

When I was a child in the Showa 50s, inflation caused prices and average wages to keep rising. Real estate prices, such as land, were also rising sharply, and many people were trying to save for a down payment to buy a house or an apartment. Therefore, savings were regarded as virtuous, and with high interest rates, the government and the mass media promoted saving.

In compulsory education and high school social studies classes, I learned about the basics of macroeconomics, such as the history of bartering and the emergence of money, how East India Companies and joint-stock companies came into being, and types of companies like partnerships. At the same time, there were few opportunities to learn practical, concrete knowledge important for individuals, such as how to structure loans or investments. I believe that the vast majority of Japanese children were in a similar situation.