Watching the Japanese market from a distance felt safer than actually buying in

Tracking the shifts in the Japanese market

I spent a good chunk of last week staring at charts, trying to figure out if it was finally time to shift some of my focus toward the Japanese market. It’s funny how, in Korea, everyone is always buzzing about Samsung or Hyundai, constantly arguing about whether the chip sector has bottomed out or if the dividend yields are just a trap. But when you start looking at companies like Murata, which keeps popping up in reports about MLCC technology, you realize how much the perspective changes when you step outside your own country’s tickers. I remember reading about Kioxia, that memory chip company, and hearing that their employees were sitting on massive stock gains—something like a billion yen per person. It sounded surreal, especially compared to the usual headlines we get here about labor disputes over performance bonuses. It made me wonder why I’ve been so fixated on domestic stocks when the logic driving the Japanese market seems to prioritize shareholder value in a way that feels more direct.

The annoyance of currency exchange and platform friction

Actually trying to buy into a foreign market is a different beast entirely. I opened my brokerage app around 10:30 PM on a Tuesday, thinking it would be as simple as buying a local stock. It wasn’t. Between the currency conversion fees and the interface lag, I felt like I was back in the early days of online trading. You see these companies—the ones that own professional teams like the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters—and think, ‘Okay, I recognize the name,’ but then you hit a wall with the research. Most of the granular data is in Japanese, and frankly, my language skills aren’t sharp enough to read through an annual report without constant translation. I spent an hour trying to decipher a manufacturer’s label on a piece of memorabilia just to get a feel for the corporate structure. It was tedious, and eventually, I just closed the app. I didn’t buy anything. I suppose I’m still just hovering.

Why I ended up doing nothing for now

There’s this constant pressure to find the ‘next’ big thing, whether it’s space-related ETFs or AI infrastructure, but the sheer noise is exhausting. I see news about SpaceX and Starlink, and then I look at the volatility in the broader market, and it makes me want to pull back. Is it worth the 0.5% or 1% commission fees to chase these foreign stocks when I can just sit on my hands? Maybe. But the uncertainty of whether I’m just jumping on a bandwagon keeps me from hitting the confirmation button. I look at my account balance and realize I haven’t even adjusted my local positions in months. Sometimes the most active thing you can do is just watch, even if that feels like a waste of time. I’m still not sure if I’m being prudent or just lazy. I guess I’ll check again next month, though I suspect the result will be exactly the same.