Why did he gradually shift from high-frequency, short-term trading to long-term real estate investment after 2008?
Sure. Here is the translation strictly following your instructions:
Okay, let's talk about the story of Japan's legendary retail investor, "B.N.F." (Takashi Kotegawa). His transformation from an "Akihabara Stock God" to an "Akihabara Building Landlord" was actually incredibly shrewd and quite understandable.
Think of him like a top-tier esports pro.
A young esports pro relies on superhuman reflexes, precise execution, and a deep understanding of the game meta, training intensely for 10+ hours daily to dominate competitions and earn massive prize money.
But as he ages, or if the game's version changes dramatically, his reflexes might slow down, or his old strategies might no longer work. More importantly, once he's won tens of millions in prize money, his primary goal shifts from "winning the next match" to "how to protect this money and make it work reliably for me." At this point, he might choose to retire, transition to being a club owner, an investor, or a landlord collecting stable rent.
B.N.F.'s transformation follows this logic. Specifically, there were several key reasons:
1. The Money Was Simply Too Much – A Small Pool Became Stifling
This is the most fundamental and direct reason.
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An analogy: Imagine you're a master angler in a small pond. With your unique lures and techniques, you always catch a full haul. But once you make big money and sail a huge fishing trawler into this same small pond, just casting your net scares off all the fish. Your own boat's props churn the water and spook everything. Your old techniques become impossible. B.N.F. faced exactly this issue. His short-term trading style depended on quick buying and selling to profit from tiny price fluctuations. When his capital was just tens of millions of yen, he was like a small fish in the market, moving freely without notice.
But when his assets grew to tens of billions of yen, he became a "whale" in the market. Just placing a large buy order could instantly push a stock's price up; trying to sell could cause it to plummet due to the sheer volume of his sales. His own actions profoundly impacted the stock prices, rendering his old strategy of "entering quietly without making a sound" completely ineffective. He simply had too much money to execute his short-term tactics effectively anymore.
2. The Game Environment Changed, Rendering Old Strategies Obsolete (2008 Financial Crisis)
The 2008 Global Financial Crisis was like a catastrophic game update that re-wrote the entire map and rules.
Pre-crisis, the market had certain predictable rhythms and patterns that B.N.F. expertly exploited (like using "Bias Ratio" trading strategies) for enormous profits.
But the crisis plunged the market into extreme panic and chaos. Previous technical indicators and market sentiments became unreliable. The whole market shifted from a "regular season" amenable to technical analysis to a life-or-death gamble on the nation's future. In such extreme volatility, continuing to use old short-term strategies was extremely risky – akin to sailing a small boat through a hurricane. Being as smart as he is, he naturally realized the "meta" had changed and that he needed a new, steadier way to play the game.
3. His Mindset Shifted: From Chasing "Adrenaline" to Seeking "Peace of Mind"
Imagine the mental pressure of staring at screens daily, deciding to buy or sell billions of yen in seconds. It’s an incredibly draining lifestyle.
When he started with ¥1.6 million (approx. $12-15k USD at the time, now ~$10k) with goals like "making money" and "proving himself," he could endure that pressure. But after amassing wealth several lifetimes couldn't exhaust, his mindset inevitably changed.
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Goal Shift: The core goal shifted from rapid wealth appreciation to wealth preservation and security.
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Lifestyle Change: He no longer needed the daily rollercoaster ride. Instead, he sought stable, sustainable "passive income" he could rely on without constant action.
Becoming a property landlord was the perfect solution for this goal.
4. Real Estate: A Large, High-Quality Asset Pool for the "Elephant"
Since short-term stock trading became impractical due to his enormous size, he needed a new "pool" vast enough for this elephant. Real estate was the perfect fit.
- Massive Scale: A single building costs tens to hundreds of billions of yen, providing a suitable destination for his massive capital. For instance, he spent ¥9 billion (~$83M USD at the time) on a commercial building in Akihabara in 2008, and later another
¥17 billion ($156M USD at the time) on a second building. - Stable Cash Flow: Stock prices gyrate wildly, while prime-location commercial properties generate stable, predictable rental income. It's like transitioning from a hunter dependent on daily hunts to a farmer with a sprawling orchard, producing reliable harvests year after year.
- Inflation Hedge: Leaving huge cash sums in the bank exposes them to erosion by inflation. Core-location real estate itself is a high-quality asset for preserving value.
To Summarize:
B.N.F.'s transformation wasn't a sign that he "lost it" or "gave up," but an exceptionally rational and astute strategic evolution. He was like a max-level player who, after mastering the "short-term trading" instance found that his gear and level no longer suited grinding mobs there. So, equipped with his top-tier "gear," he moved on to the larger, more fitting new "map" of "long-term holding and stable income generation."