Yoshihiro Ujihara
Mizuho Securities Group
“A strong understanding of technology and solid access to company managements,” as one Tokyo-based buy-side analyst puts it, help Yoshihiro Ujihara repeat in second place. The Mizuho Securities Group analyst, who tracks some 200 companies, upgraded Origin Electric Co. from neutral to buy in January 2012, at ¥244, citing rising demand for the Tokyo-based electronic equipment manufacturer’s proprietary adhesive applicators for bonding glass to liquid crystal displays in smartphones. “The company had received a large order for these devices — on a sole-supplier basis — from a major smartphone manufacturer,” Ujihara recalls. In January 2013, after the shares had bolted 75 percent, to ¥427, he lowered them back to neutral, on valuation. By mid-March the shares had slipped 8.7 percent, to ¥390. — Ben Mattlin