, Columnist
My Search for the Original Mrs. Watanabe
Yen retail traders are back in the spotlight. But where did the phrase for the archetypal Japanese housewife investor come from?
Wanted: the archetypal FX trader.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi//Bloomberg
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I’m looking for a Mrs. Watanabe.
Not just any Mrs. Watanabe — the Mrs. Watanabe, the archetypal financial journalist’s shorthand we’ve all used to discuss Japanese retail investors who dabble in forex trading. With the recent focus on the yen and a resurgence in interest in individual investing, the phrase — already one of the most common pieces of jargon in Japanese financial circles — has seen a resurgence.