Masashi Morita Okasan

second team Eiji Maeda JPMorgan

third team Yuta Sakurai Nomura

runner-up Soichiro Fukuda Nikko Citi

Thanks in part to what clients call his “unique reports” and “original style,” Masashi Morita leaps from third place to seize first-place honors for the first time. Morita, 37, has been with Okasan Securities Co. since earning a master’s degree in economics at Waseda University in 1996. In October he recommended Nintendo Co., anticipating strong profits would follow November’s Japan-­only release of hand-held gaming console Nintendo DSi. The stock did not fare as well as Morita expected, but its 6.9 percent dip through February outperformed the broad market’s loss by 9.0 percentage points. Eiji Maeda repeats in second place. The JPMorgan Securities Japan analyst down­graded arcade operator Namco Bandai Holdings to underweight in November, at ¥1,087, on slowing demand. The share price had slid to ¥904 by late February. ­Yuta ­Sakurai of Nomura Securities Co. drops from first to third but continues to impress investors with what one ­money man­ager calls his “balance of analysis.” In January 2008, Sakurai high­lighted his buy recommendation on game ­maker Sankyo Co., as a good defensive play. By the end of February 2009, the stock had outpaced the broad market by 32.8 percentage points.

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2009 All-Japan Research Team Rankings