The Dark Lady of Osaka: A Symbol of the Japanese Stock Market Bubble

Before she borrowed billions and brought down banks, Nui Onoue was just a waitress in Osaka who claimed to speak with ghosts.
In a male-dominated society, it was ironic that the most powerful private speculator during the epic Japanese stock market bubble was a woman—Nui Onoue, who the press dubbed “The Dark Lady of Osaka.”

Born in 1930 to a poor family, Onoue worked as a waitress in Japan’s second-largest city. Her fortunes changed when she became the mistress of a construction executive who helped her purchase Egawa, a refined restaurant on a modest Osaka street.

For two decades, Egawa served traditional Japanese dishes amid antique prints and carved cedarwood decor.

How the Dark Lady of Osaka Gained Her Mystique

As a self‑proclaimed Buddhist mystic, Nui Onoue developed a reputation for eerily accurate stock market predictions. On Sunday nights, she hosted séances in her restaurant, summoning spirits under the watchful gaze of a ceramic toad—a traditional symbol of wealth. Brokers flocked to her, eager for her otherworldly advice.

The mystique and a roaring bull market made Egawa a financial hotspot. Yamaichi Securities even stationed an employee there full-time.

But with success came arrogance. Onoue started bossing around bank executives and dropping names.

Billion‑Yen Bets and a Financial House of Cards

In the spring of 1988, she walked into the Industrial Bank of Japan’s Osaka branch and purchased over ¥1 billion (~$7 billion) in discount bonds. Rumors linked her to yakuza money laundering.

Soon she borrowed nearly ¥3 trillion (~$23 billion)—1,500× her restaurant's value—and became the largest individual shareholder in many blue-chip firms. By 1989, she'd amassed one of Japan's largest personal stock portfolios, valued at ~$7 billion, making her briefly one of the richest people worldwide.

Collapse and Consequences

Then came the crash. Her investments soured, and bankruptcy proceedings unveiled ¥430 billion in personal debt—the largest ever for an individual in Japan.

Her fraud emerged in 1991 when it surfaced that executives at Tōyō Shinyo Kinko Bank had issued over $2.5 billion in fake certificates of deposit under her name, enabling massive loans. The New York Times dubbed it “the largest ever loan scheme in Japan, and perhaps the world.” japantimes.co.jp+9en.wikipedia.org+9japantimes.co.jp+9en.wikipedia.org

Convicted of financial fraud, Onoue received a 12‑year prison sentence. Her actions destroyed two banks and marked a major scandal in Japan’s bubble-era greed.

The Forgotten End of the Dark Lady

After her rise and fall, Onoue spent her final years in prison. She died in 2014, virtually unmentioned in the media. The woman who had once embodied the heights of Japan’s boom vanished into obscurity.