Kiritani Hiroto (76), known for living off shareholder perks, posted on X that he went to Matsuya with his sister and ate using a shareholder benefit coupon. His response to comments saying “why not stop being so stingy and just eat what you like” became a hot topic on the thread, with commenters split over how to read his ¥700 million net worth and his choice to keep living the “perks lifestyle.”
“¥700 Million in Assets” Kiritani Gives a Real Answer to “Wouldn’t It Be Better to Stop Using Coupons and Eat What You Like?”
Shogi player-turned-investor Kiritani Hiroto (76), who has openly stated his total assets are ¥700 million, updated his official X (formerly Twitter) account by the 25th. He responded to comments asking, “Wouldn’t it be better to give up the perks lifestyle and eat what you like?”
Kiritani wrote, “Yesterday at noon, my sister came all the way from Kure City, so I biked over to Matsuya to get lunch (my first meal of the day). I was thrown off because the ordering system had changed (you now order via QR code), but I managed to place my order somehow,” reporting that he used Matsuya Foods’ “shareholder meal benefit coupon.”
Good to see he's recovered enough to bike over to Matsuya.
3AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:31
Wait, Matsuya changed how you order? Isn't it still that garbage ticket machine?
14AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:43
Re: #3
I think he means the old ticket machine was garbage — but if you thought the old one was bad, you probably can't figure out the new one at all lol
4AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:32
Whatever makes you happy is the right answer — it's not for other people to nitpick about. I don't want to be one of those "advice guys" who butts in with advice nobody asked for.
75AnonymousAug 26, 2026 02:24
Re: #4
And yet people around you always find something to complain about. Even parents tell their kids what to do all the time. What is that about?
5AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:33
But with only ¥3 million in capital, you can't really turn a profit investing, can you?
6AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:35
His answer doesn't really land for me, but it's not like he's eating stuff he hates.
7AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:36
He's been trading stocks forever, and long-term holding seems to be basically his whole strategy — so in this market, isn't ¥700 million actually kind of low?
8AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:36
No, at his age, eating out constantly at perk-coupon-tier restaurants really isn't good for his health — that's probably why people are worried.
9AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:38
If he's a long-term holder, you'd think he'd favor dividend stocks over perk stocks — though perks do have the advantage of not being taxed.
10AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:39
If his body can handle all that greasy restaurant food, he should just keep at it — being able to eat like that is a talent for longevity in itself. Though he doesn't need to go full speed on that bike all the time.
11AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:41
But wasn't he wrecked by the Lehman Shock?
12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:42
For Kiritani, using up every last coupon is part of the joy, so this is fine as is. What's really impressive is being able to go eat greasy food like that on the way back from chemo treatment.
13AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:43
So his sister came all this way and he took her out to eat at Matsuya, huh.
15AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:44
Whoa, he's turned into quite the old man — kind of startling. Eat something healthy and stay well, man.
16AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:44
Isn't he just using coupons from companies whose food he actually likes?
17AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:44
Is he ever going to discover cooking for himself?
18AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:45
Re: #1
Seriously, only ¥700 million? There are tons of young people on YouTube claiming they made ¥1 billion in two years — isn't ¥700 million kind of rough for his age?
24AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:54
Re: #18
No way that's true lol. But you also can't exactly go around saying "yeah, no matter what I do my assets just keep growing."
31AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:11
Re: #18
You watching a lot of those guys' videos? Idiots like that are exactly the ones who end up getting hit by investment scams — be careful.
49AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:40
Re: #18
If you can really earn that much, why would you even need to run a YouTube channel?
19AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:51
Once you're dead, your assets mean nothing. He doesn't have long left, so why is he still pinching pennies?
67AnonymousAug 26, 2026 02:06
Re: #19
People who get this much attention never think for a second that they're actually going to die.
77AnonymousAug 26, 2026 02:25
It's probably turned into his hobby at this point — none of our business, honestly lol.
Re: #19
I believe he's planning to leave it to his two younger sisters, so the idea of "spend it all while I'm alive" has just never occurred to him.
22AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:53
(East) Kiritani Hiroto (75, Tokyo, former professional shogi player) — Net worth: ¥700 million
(West) Fujimoto Shigeru (90, Kobe, pet shop groomer) — Net worth: ¥2.5 billion
23AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:53
His favorite food just happens to be coupon meals — so everyone else can mind their own business.
25AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:55
Even if his assets (the value of his stock holdings) are ¥700 million, the bank account he actually uses day-to-day as his "wallet" might have under ¥5 million in it — and watching that balance shrink probably feels rough.
28AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:02
Re: #25
He earns a normal income from things like giving lectures, so it's not like he's actually short on spending money.
26AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:55
¥700 million is plenty to FIRE on. If it were me, I'd be eating great food and living however I wanted.
29AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:05
If you put the whole ¥700 million into stocks at an average dividend yield of 3%, that's ¥21 million a year coming in (about ¥16 million after withholding tax).
Must be nice~ 🧁🥄🤔
30AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:06
If you put the whole ¥700 million into stocks — across the board — at an average dividend yield of 3%, that's ¥21 million a year coming in (about ¥16 million after withholding tax).
Must be nice~ 🧁🥄🤔
32AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:14
Re: #30
Um, you know you get taxed when you sell stocks, right? He's already getting both perks and dividends as it is — what's the actual problem?
33AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:14
I recall him saying he once held Yamaichi Securities stock and it became worthless (Yamaichi collapsed in 1997).
34AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:15
It's less that his brain is controlled by it and more that, in a way, his whole life is bound up in it.
35AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:17
Sure, the perks help, but maybe Matsuya is genuinely just what he likes?
36AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:18
He doesn't have that much time left, so he should just do as he pleases — it's not for outsiders to weigh in on.
37AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:18
Rich people really are stingy, huh.
Though most rich people just refuse to spend a single yen on other people, this guy won't even spend it on himself — his stinginess is next-level thorough.
38AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:19
Well, it's his own money, so it's really none of our business. And it's probably precisely because he's committed to fully using his perks that he's held onto that much money in the first place.
50AnonymousAug 26, 2026 01:41
He said he wants to eat crab, but he can't because people criticize him if it's not covered by a shareholder perk.
79AnonymousAug 26, 2026 02:33
Re: #50
Seems like he could still get crab through furusato nozei (hometown tax donation gifts) though.
Background and Key Points
Shareholder perks (yutai) are a distinctly Japanese practice: companies distribute discount coupons, gift certificates, or product samples to individual shareholders, on top of or instead of cash dividends, mainly to attract and retain small retail investors. Kiritani Hiroto built his entire public persona around this niche after his shogi career, becoming one of Japan’s best-known “yutai investors” through television appearances and books, someone who treats collecting and using perk coupons at chains like Matsuya as much a hobby as a financial strategy. Matsuya itself is one of Japan’s “big three” gyudon (beef bowl) chains alongside Yoshinoya and Sukiya, and its shift from ticket vending machines to QR-code ordering reflects a broader labor-shortage-driven push toward self-service automation in Japanese dining that would confuse even longtime customers, hence his comment about being thrown off.
The thread didn’t split over whether he’s entitled to spend his own money that way, nearly everyone agreed it’s his business, but over whether ¥700 million is actually impressive for a famous 76-year-old investor, and whether his health can sustain a diet built around cheap, greasy chain food into old age. Some framed the coupon habit as endearing frugality or even a longevity trick; others read it as needless stinginess given his wealth.
What outside readers likely miss is that yutai are typically untaxed in-kind benefits, unlike dividends, which is part of why serious yutai investors treat them as a distinct, efficient income stream rather than mere freebies, a distinction one poster raised but the framing of “why not just eat what you like” glosses over entirely.
Leave a Reply