Mrs. Watanabe

Mrs. Watanabe, also known as Kimono Trader,^[1] is a term that gained prominence in the early 2000s, representing a stereotype associated with Japanese retail foreign exchange (FX) traders. These individuals became notable for their active participation in FX trading, which had a significant impact on global currency markets and garnered attention on a worldwide scale.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The term Mrs. Watanabe was used as early as the 1980s, although a 1997 reference in The Economist became well known.^[8][9] Watanabe (渡辺) is a common surname in Japan, but not the most common.^[8][10] Despite the "Mrs." honorific, about 85% of the retail currency traders in Japan as of 2019 are male, mostly in their 30s, 40s and 50s.^[11] Gearoid Reidy of Bloomberg News concluded after research that "Mrs. Watanabe"'s meaning changed over time from a Japanese equivalent of Joe Sixpack or Joe Bloggs to specifically referring to FX traders.^[8]

Due to the low interest rates in Japan, traders can borrow a large quantity of yen with a margin account, and use it to buy currencies from economies where interest rates are much higher (e.g. Turkish lira, Mexican peso, and South African rand),^[11] a currency carry trade.