Shigeki Okazaki Nomura Securities Co. The buy side says: “Okazaki has good knowledge of the global market and broad expertise.”

Shigeki Okazaki, 43, lands in the winner’s circle for a sixth straight year. The Nomura Securities Co. analyst upgraded Modec, a Tokyo-­based concern that specializes in offshore oil-­drilling machinery, from neutral to buy in November, on a price dip at ¥1,192. Okazaki believed Modec would benefit from rising crude oil prices and the Obama administration’s lifting of the deep-sea drilling ban in the U.S. By the end of February, the stock had gushed 26.2 percent, to ¥1,504, and blown past the sector by 18 percentage points. Also in November, Okazaki upgraded Kawasaki Heavy Industries from neutral to buy, at ¥252, on high demand for the Kobe-­based industrial-­engineering-­gear maker’s hydraulic construction equipment, especially in China. That stock soared 30.6 percent, to ¥329, through February. “His knowledge has helped my performance,” attests one money manager.

Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.