I like Bank of Japan Governor Ueda's English

Since I achieved FIRE, I have had more time, so in addition to watching the press conferences of Fed Chair Powell (currently Chair Warsh) after the FOMC, I have also started listening to economic symposiums featuring Japanese dignitaries and CNBC interviews.

As an extension of that, I have even started listening to the press conferences after the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meetings—to be honest, I am a fan of Governor Ueda. Or more accurately, a fan of Governor Ueda when he speaks in English.

When Ueda-san speaks in Japanese, he is actually a bit difficult to understand. I even get the impression that he might be a bit of a natural airhead.
I feel that Deputy Governor Uchida, who held the press conference in place of Governor Ueda last time, was clearer in his explanations.

However, his English is top-notch.
His pronunciation is clean and sophisticated.
Even though he studied in the United States, for some reason I sometimes detect a British accent.
Perhaps it is the influence of academia.

I studied abroad in the United States starting in high school, but my major in university was sociology.
I studied financial English on my own, and I still continue to do so.
Because I struggled with self-study, I can see the traces of his efforts.

Looking at his background, Ueda-san went from Tsukuba Komaba to the University of Tokyo's Department of Mathematics, and then obtained a PhD in Economics at MIT.
In other words, he is not a returnee or an international school graduate. Perhaps he had a knack for languages as well as mathematics, because despite starting his studies abroad in graduate school, he speaks English with very little of the accent typical of Japanese people.
He explains things smoothly using the same vocabulary as Western economists and scholars.
There is none of the arrogance, stiffness, or tendency to push through with a limited vocabulary that is common among past Bank of Japan governors and ministers. He can even tell jokes that make the questioner laugh.
I don't think the serious Chair Powell has ever told a joke at a press conference.

It is said that even when he was teaching at the University of Tokyo and Kyoritsu Women's University, he was a professor whom students found easy to consult.

I had always been curious.
How did he acquire that level of pronunciation and education after starting his studies abroad in graduate school?
There wasn't much information online, but I found a new interview where he talks about business English. (

NHK Publishing Magazine)

What was revealed there was an unexpected confession.
He said he started studying English from the textbook for the first year of public junior high school.
It just so happened that his English teacher's pronunciation was perfect, and wanting to be like that, he bought a book that explained how to use the tongue and mouth for pronunciation.
He apparently memorized the textbook by heart to understand grammar. Such dedication.
Although he experienced studying abroad in the United States during graduate school, he said he drifted away from studying English after returning to Japan, and felt a sense of crisis every time he went abroad for academic conferences because he felt his English skills were stagnating.
That was when he started listening to Satoshi Sugita's lectures, and a few years ago, he encountered "shadowing," which didn't exist when he was a student, and he said it was extremely effective.
He says that although there are times he cannot keep up with the English audio, as he continues, his sense of English rhythm returns.

While it might be lip service to NHK, it seems he still listens to NHK Business English even now. He says he also practices shadowing.
I also do shadowing.
I try to imitate the outlook of my favorite analyst exactly.
As I repeat that, before I know it, it becomes my own explanation.

He also touches on the importance of small talk, the fact that an understanding of history is essential for that, and tips for keeping a conversation lively,
saying that he speaks while thinking two or three steps ahead about the questions he will ask the other person,
though if he focuses too much on that, he sometimes misses what the other person is saying (laughs).
This is something I also used to do in business negotiations and interactions with professors. Because if I didn't say something memorable, it wouldn't lead to contracts or grades.

Since I was doing similar things myself, I was happy and wrote this in a rather arrogant way, haha.

Perhaps the reason he seems a bit like a natural airhead in Japanese press conferences is because he is answering while thinking two or three steps ahead of the questions.

July 30-31 is the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting. While the majority expect interest rates to remain unchanged, as a long-term trend, Governor Ueda will likely continue to raise the policy interest rate, slowly, very slowly.

There is a lot of criticism regarding the weak yen.

However, I think this situation shows that for Japanese people, the importance of learning English and global macroeconomics is becoming increasingly high.

Before criticizing, learn English.

If you are someone who likes markets and macroeconomics, once you can understand finance in English,
the market suddenly becomes three-dimensional.
You can feel the "temperature" of what central bank governors and economists around the world are thinking, what they fear, and what they expect.

I am still obsessed with the market and English every day.

I also write about how English changed my life👇️

Is there anything you are currently studying, taking lessons for, or a language you are learning?
Please let me know in the comments if you'd like.

I look forward to your likes♡ and follows☺️ It really encourages me✨️

Thank you for reading until the end😊