Meanings
- A personification of the Japanese housewife speculators, who are strong enough to affect international markets, especially foreign exchange markets.
Mrs Watanabe is tiptoeing back into Japan’s stockmarket
2009 March 26, “Wide girls”, in Economist2 more examples
Mrs Watanabe, the market’s metaphor for Japan’s housewife yen speculators, has come back to life.
2009 June 27, “The return of 'Mrs Watanabe'”, in Asia Times, archived from the original on 26 Oct 2009Mrs. Watanabe is back. Housewife investors were a feature of the Japanese financial landscape during the prolonged recession of the 1990s.
2013 August 9, Anjani Trivedi, “Handbags and Champagne: Japan’s Young Forex Divas Make Their Mark”, in Time, archived from the original on 28 Oct 2020
Origin
From Mrs. + Watanabe, from Japanese 渡(わたな)辺(べ) (Watanabe, a common surname).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French Madame Watanabe
- Madame Watanabepersonification of the Japanese housewife speculators
Japanese ミセス・ワタナベ
- ミセス・ワタナベ (Misesu Watanabe)personification of the Japanese housewife speculators
Cite this entry
Mrs. Watanabe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mrs.%20Watanabe
“Mrs. Watanabe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mrs.%20Watanabe. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mrs. Watanabe,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mrs.%20Watanabe.
Source: Mrs. Watanabe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.