On Saturday, December 20, 2025, the Securities Seminar Convention (FY2025), organized by the All-Japan Securities Study Student League and held with the support of the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA), took place at BELLESALLE Tokyo Nihonbashi. The Team YANG of fourth‑year students from the School of Political Science and Economics in the KATSU Etsuko Seminar — YANG Yirong, KIMURA Shota, TAKEMOTO Haruto, TORIHARA Yutaro (in no particular order) — received the Fighting Spirit Award.
This year’s convention comprised five sessions: Approaches to Venture Finance in Japan; Approaches to Sustainable Finance for Realizing a Sustainable Society; Revitalizing the Domestic Equity Market; Financial Education to Promote Asset Management; and Shareholder Return Policies Desirable to Shareholders.
Focusing on the theme of Financial Education to Promote Asset Management, Team YANG prepared their paper and video presentation and then engaged in the day’s discussions. Rather than starting from how to make people invest, they first clarified the prior question of why financial education (financial literacy) is needed. They then incorporated into both their paper and the discussions the idea of setting an individual’s goal as financial well‑being, a state in which anxiety about household finances is reduced and individuals can make autonomous decisions, which led to their winning the award.
Over many years, the KATSU Etsuko Seminar has explored a wide range of finance‑related issues, from macro‑level topics such as monetary and financial policy to micro‑level themes such as the banking system, securities markets, and investment theory. The seminar emphasizes support for students’ growth by moving back and forth between theory and practice, and it prioritizes cultivating students’ ability to identify issues on their own and derive solutions through data analysis and research. This award is positioned as the outcome of long‑term investigation and analysis, together with rigorous validation through discussion.
The KATSU Etsuko Seminar has received many awards at this convention in the past; last year as well, two teams from the seminar were honored, and Team YANG has now won two years running.
Comment from the winner
YANG Yirong
In preparing for the convention, our team repeatedly conducted research and discussions, reframing financial literacy not as mere knowledge of investment products but as a solid grasp of foundational concepts and numeracy; decision‑making grounded in life planning; and the ability to draw on external expertise when needed. I felt that the key is how far one can build the evidentiary basis for one’s claims, and in closely reading papers and presentations from other universities, I learned a lot even when examining points that could be challenged. During the discussions on the day, I gained many insights from the multifaceted perspectives brought by participants from other universities. I am determined to carry this experience forward into my future endeavors.