Have you heard of Takashim Kotegawie? If not, that’s quite a loss, because this guy’s story is probably the best example of how you can make a fortune through day trading. He started with $13,600 and ended up with over 150 million. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s true.

The Japanese trader is practically a ghost—there are almost no photos of him online, he avoids the media, and virtually no one knows him. But his results speak for themselves. Over 8 years of trading in the Japanese stock market, he did something most traders would consider impossible.

He began his journey around 2001, right as the dot-com bubble was bursting. A bear market ruled until 2003, and Kotegawie took full advantage of it. Instead of buying, he speculated on declines. That was his golden era—while everyone else was losing money, he was making it.

His approach was simple but effective. He looked at stocks that had fallen at least 20 percent below their 25-day moving average. He waited for the RSI to confirm that they were oversold, and then entered on the next rebound. He bought, closed the trade the same day, or held part of the position overnight. Bollingera bands were also in his arsenal. Nothing extraordinary on paper, but in practice, Kotegawie carried it out with remarkable precision.

But there is one day that went down in history. In 2005, the IPO of J-Com Holdings. Kotegawie was in his bedroom in front of his monitor, watching every move. And then it happened—a trader from Mizuho Securities made the mistake of his life. Instead of selling 1 share for 610 thousand yen, he placed an order for 610 thousand shares for 1 yen. The J-Com stock price kept sliding downward. Kotegawie bought 7,100 shares at the bottom and waited. When the price bounced back, he made 17 million dollars in a single day. Now that would be over 400 million. He became the “J-Com Man.”

Interestingly, Kotegawie never chased publicity. He made a fortune, but stayed humble. No fancy cars, no million-dollar watches. He bought only a new apartment, because his old bedroom was too small. That says a lot about his mindset—for him, trading was a passion, and money was only a measure of success.

Takashi Kotegawie’s story shows that it’s possible to make huge amounts of money through day trading, but it requires discipline, a strategy, and extraordinary consistency. Today, markets are more advanced, and mistakes like the one at Mizuho no longer happen, but the lesson remains: sometimes it’s not just skills, but also the right moment in history.