As an author of novels and nonfiction books, a writer, a speaker, and most notably, a finance guru, Peter Tasker is a man of many talents. His extensive experiences offer a unique understanding of Asia, which he infuses into all his work.
It was the late 1970s, and few serious business people were coming to Japan; Peter himself mentions that most of the Westerners in Japan were either “martial arts goons” or they drifted off the beaten path. Peter Tasker was the latter, curious about what possibilities would open for him and willing to bet on the unknown.
Back in the UK, Peter had joined stockbroker Grieveson Grant at a time of deep recession. The City was massively unprofitable, and many investors were looking to new frontiers in Asia to improve their returns.
In the early 1980s, Peter was dispatched to the small Grieveson Grant office near Yasukuni Shrine. He spent his days ignoring the blaring right-wing loudspeaker-trucks, visiting companies, and writing research reports to be faxed or sometimes mailed back to the U.K. office. After London's financial Big Bang of 1985, he found himself working as Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein’s market strategist, where he stayed until 1998.
In the roar of Japan's bubble years, Peter released his first book, Inside Japan (1987), offering the world a sharp critique of the ascendant Japan. By 1992, he had released his second book, The End of the Japanese Golden Era as well as his first work of fiction, Silent Thunder (1992), the first in a series of noir novels that attracted a strong core of followers and feature the anti-hero Mori, a hard-bitten private detective whose student radicalism caused him to be barred from conventional employment for life.
During his years at Dresdner Kleinwort Wassertein, Nikkei Newspaper ranked Peter as Japan’s number one equity strategist for five years in a row, further contributing to his popularity. He caught the public eye as a television commentator, iconic analyst, and regular columnist for Newsweek Japan.
In 1998, a year after the release of his fourth and fifth books, Japan 2020 and The Buddha Kiss, Peter co-founded Arcus Investments with his partners, Robert Macrae, and Mark Pearson, and today Peter and Mark continue to run this successful investment firm together.
Between 2000 and 2007, Peter was a non-executive director of Paris Miki, Japan’s largest eyewear retailer, with over one thousand outlets.
Peter is the author of a number of critically acclaimed non-fiction books including: Inside Japan (1987), The End of the Japanese Golden Era (1992), Restructuring Japan (1993), Can Japan Survive? (1994), Japan 2020 (1997), Japan in Play (1999) and, jointly with Bill Emmott, Japan's Choices (2007). His series of noir novels include: Silent Thunder (1992), Buddha Kiss (1997), Samurai Boogie (1999), Dragon Dance (2003) and Maximum Target (2011).