Buy in to Japan's new dawn

Overseas investors were net sellers of Japanese stocks last year. But Japan is entering a new era of “beautiful harmony”, and investors should get on board.

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Brewer Asahi has increased production for the ten-day holiday
(Image credit: 2014 The Asahi Shimbun)

Japan is entering a new era of "beautiful harmony", says Justin McCurry in The Guardian. Japanese emperor Akihito abdicated this week in favour of his son, ending the country's "Heisei" imperial era that began in 1989. Crown Prince Naruhito's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne marks the start of the new "Reiwa period", which roughly translates as "beautiful harmony".

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.