Japan was toppled this year by China as the world’s largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, but it still ranks near the head of most of the world’s league tables of accumulated wealth. Notable among its claims to distinction are the ¥1,400,000bn ($11,800bn)-worth of financial savings, excluding land, held by Japanese individuals (second after the US) and the estimated value of the nation’s land stock, still valued at ¥2,300,000bn despite steep declines following the bursting of the late 1980s property bubble.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), after a catastrophic fall followed by 16 years of sideways movement, is still the world’s second largest, after the New York Stock Exchange.
