While many such firms do now offer online trading, their services, he notes, are based mainly on the same systems they were using for traditional trading, which is why most of them accept orders during only certain hours. They're trying to patent the system. There was no competition, so there was no need for improvement. Once securities companies start competing, which is slowly happening now, this industry will start growing drastically. Luther also sees problems with the investors, though, and thinks that many people in Japan have wrong-headed ideas about investing.
Japanese people think that stock investing is like gambling.
On the other hand, he says, many Japanese haven't gotten the full benefit of post-war economic growth because they've kept their money in banks. Banks just give consumers a small amount of interest and then lend money with high interest, or invest in stocks to get high returns. That's how banks keep making money. Many stocks in Japan are kept by companies, not by individuals. If individuals had those stocks, many people would have more assets.