Columnists Share Techniques for Utilizing Shikiho on Shikiho Online

Is the Autumn Issue a Treasure Trove of Hidden Gems

Known as the Bible of Stock Investing, Kaisha Shikiho can be quite challenging for beginners to navigate. To help with this, we consulted Rie Fujikawa, a charismatic instructor of stock investment courses and a popular columnist for Shikiho Online, to share tips on how to read it and to highlight some noteworthy stocks from the latest issue.

Popular columnist for “Shikiho Online” has never lost a profit or loss for the year so far.

Rie Fujikawa is a stock investment lecturer.

PROFILE: Rie Fujikawa teaches various courses such as “Financial Literacy School” and “Stock Investment School” at “Financial Academy,” the largest financial education institution in Japan. She began investing in stocks in 2009 and increased her initial capital tenfold within five years, maintaining a record of no annual losses. Her publications include “The Most Fun Way to Read Company Shikiho: A Novel-Like Approach to Making 10 Times the Profit!” She also hosts the “Rie Fujikawa’s Girls’ Stock Channel” on YouTube.

Why it is called the “Bible of stock investment”

The “Company Shikiho” (hereafter referred to as Shikiho) is a single volume that compiles information on all listed companies in Japan in a compact format. In addition to data on each company’s business activities, financial conditions, and shareholder information, it also includes articles with earnings forecasts and company trends written by the reporters in charge. This unique earnings forecasting and the articles have garnered support from many investors, leading to it being referred to as the bible of investors.

Shikiho is published four times a year, with the “Spring Edition” released in March, followed by the “Summer Edition” in June, the “Autumn Edition” in September, and the “New Year Edition” in December. However, each B6-sized page, which is nearly the size of a new book, contains dense information with data and articles for two companies stacked vertically, resulting in a total volume exceeding 2,000 pages. While it is packed with valuable information, actually reading through it requires a significant amount of time, which may deter many people from engaging with it.

Therefore, we asked Rie Fujikawa, who has written works related to Shikiho, to share tips for beginners on how to read it, along with selected noteworthy stocks from the latest edition.

Where should you look in “Shikiho” to read between the lines and uncover the true opinions of the reporters?

First, let’s talk about the tips for reading. Among the packed data, there are two main points to pay attention to.

“The highlight of Shikiho is undoubtedly its earnings forecasts and the article sections. The articles, in particular, are quite interesting. They are written in a very limited number of characters, but the headlines and the spaces between the lines reveal the reporters’ true opinions,” says Fujikawa.

The article section consists of a mere 170-character space where important news and trends about companies are reported. It is made up of two topics: the first half focuses on the company’s earnings trends, while the second half highlights noteworthy materials. At first glance, it may seem that only objective facts are being stated.

“Regarding the first half about earnings trends, the headlines typically indicate facts such as ‘continuing rise,’ ‘record profits,’ or ‘falling back.’ However, the latter part sometimes features headlines like ‘watching closely’ or ‘signs,’ which may not be immediately clear in meaning.

This is just my speculation, but you could say it relates to adult situations—the reporters might be trying to convey content that can’t be expressed directly, hoping readers will pick up on their intentions.

The evaluations and analyses that delve into the company’s core, backed by diligent reporting, can be found in these headlines and the spaces between the lines. If a headline catches your interest, starting your reading there is a valid approach.”