< The 2016 All-Japan Research Team
Nobuyuki Saji
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.
First-Place Appearances: 15
Total Appearances: 19
Analyst Debut: 1997
For a 15th consecutive year, buy-side professionals deem Hall of Famer Nobuyuki Saji the best economist covering Japan. Over the 23-year history of the All-Japan Research Team survey, this Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. analyst has amassed more first-place finishes than any person save Naoto Hashimoto, who racked up 16 top appearances while covering domestic transportation and utilities names for Nomura before shifting to investment banking. “I admire his profound insight for both the Japanese and global markets from an economic point of view,” one enthusiast offers. Saji, 58, believes that the Japanese government, as well as its counterparts around the world, should be pursuing policies that encourage the business sector. “Revitalization of corporate activities leads to increasing redistribution of profits to working households and rising corporate tax revenues for the government. Increased tax revenues could be utilized for the enrichment of economic measures for aging populations,” he notes. To that end, the economist recommends enlarging the tax base for personal income tax revenues, observing that Japan collects less in personal income tax revenue than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. He is also convinced that “domestic demand should be concentrated into several big cities.” An increasing number of twentysomethings have moved to the Greater Tokyo area since 2010, says Saji, and United Nations population forecasts estimate that this and other Japanese metropolitan areas are likely to grow steadily until the 2030s. Finally, he is paying “special attention to the shift of the key to economic growth from postearthquake reconstruction (total budget of ¥26 trillion [$229 billion]) to corporate R&D spending.”