Tsunao Okumura (奥村綱雄 ''Okumura Tsunao''; 5 March 1903 - 7 November 1972) was the president of

Nomura Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NHI), which forms part of the Nomura Group. It plays a central role in the securities business, the Group's core business. Nomura is a financial services group and global investment bank. Bas ...

between 1948 - 1959. He was seen as the king of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

stockbroking A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks and ...

in the 1950s. As the son of a wealthy confectioner, Okumura showed little ambition from a young age. At nineteen, he entered

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

where he enjoyed the softer pleasures offered to a well-to-do college student. His father gave him 100 yen a month spending money, at a time when twenty yen was enough to enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. Taking his classes lightly, he spent much time in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

's dance halls along with other rich young men. Okumura left university without impressive grades and was rejected by the

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Mitsui is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...

, and Yamaguchi banks. He succeeded in entering Nomura's research department with a personal introduction.

Early career

His colleagues observed that Tsunao Okumura was pleasant and self-assured but lacked the hunger that characterized other Nomura executives. He often came to work late, was despondent, and left early. Shortly after joining Nomura, his parents arranged for him to marry the eldest daughter of a wealthy Osaka landowner. His marriage into wealth further discouraged his ambition. In 1935, Okumura made a serious error that nearly cost him his career. As a research analyst in marketing, Okumura published a secret book for

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

s espousing the merits of purchasing overseas bonds. At the time, the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese instituti ...

prohibited the purchase of overseas bonds by the Japanese. Japan needed all the money it could get to expand its military. Bank of Japan officials found out about the brochure and consequently reprimanded the then-president of Nomura securities,

Otogo Kataoka is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NHI), which forms part of the Nomura Group. It plays a central role in the securities business, the Group's core business. Nomura is a financial services group and global investment bank. Bas ...

. Kataoka furiously ordered Okumura's resignation but was persuaded by other senior colleagues to simply demote Okumura instead. Disgraced, Okumura was transferred to the registration section. The registration section, where only women worked, involved hand numbering every security as it was bought and sold. The only compensation for Okumura there was that the women spoiled him shamelessly.

Comeback

Later on, Okumura's book on purchasing overseas bonds put him back in favor with Nomura's senior management, sending his career on an upward path.

References

* The House of Nomura, ''Al Alletzhauser'', Bloomsbury Publishing Limited ()

External links

Funding Universe: Nomura Securities Company, Limited
20th-century Japanese businesspeople People from Shiga Prefecture Kyoto University alumni 1903 births 1972 deaths Nomura Holdings {{japan-business-bio-stub