Photo/Illutration An electronic stock board in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward shows the Nikkei 225 index plunging more than 2,000 points at one point on the morning of Aug. 2. (Kotaro Ebara)

Stock traders talk about "tatsumi tenjo" (literally, "dragon and snake ceiling").

According to the Chinese zodiac, the dragon and the snake soar into the sky. And just like those creatures, stock prices tend to surge to new heights in the years of the dragon and the snake.

This year is the Year of the Dragon. And it so happens that since January, the Nikkei 225 graph has consistently shown that sort of robust growth.

So, that made the crash of Aug. 5 all the more upsetting. The plunge in excess of 4,451 points was even worse than that of Black Monday—Oct. 19, 1987.

The Japanese stock market adage of "yama takakereba tani fukashi" translates to "the higher the mountain, the deeper the valley." How true.

But the Nikkei rebounded sharply the following morning, marking the steepest surge in history.

In this day and age of the government urging the public to "switch from saving to investing" under the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA), I imagine some people's blood pressure readings must have looked like the Nikkei graph of that day.

Over the last few days, I was acutely reminded of the all-too-common truism that it is never easy to foresee the market trend in the immediate future.

The Asahi Shimbun on Aug. 6 ran diverse comments made by experts: Some predicted that the stock price crash will slow the Japanese economy, while others said the bottom will never fall out of the stock market.

"Yasumu mo soba," a Japanese stock market adage meaning that traders should sometimes stop selling or buying and just await their next chance, can also apply to many other situations in life.

When things are not going well, taking a break to recuperate is sometimes the only way for people to be able to see the situation more clearly.

The Obon midsummer holiday season is approaching. The timing may be just right for the overheated market to cool off while investors ease up on their expectations and anxieties.

In the long term, stock prices go up and down and often tend to eventually return to where they were initially. This pattern is said to be called "kabuka no satogaeri," which translates as "stock prices returning home."

—The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 7

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.