Will subdued Japan rev up again?

The weaker yen is proving a drag on consumer incomes, and the real, structural change that will help Japan recovery is yet to be seen. Internationally-diversified market leaders will be the best way to play the market, explains Aberdeen Asset Management's Kwok Chern-Yeh.

The Japanese stock market has been subdued so far this year, compared with the euphoria of 2013 when investors were cheered by prime minister Shinzo Abe's fiscal and monetary initiatives. This mood has partly been due to concerns over the recently-implemented consumption tax hike, and partly because of fears that Abe's ‘third arrow', that of necessary structural reform, may yet miss the mark. Drawbacks of a weaker yen The first two arrows have had an immediate effect, but it is possibly that these benefits will be short-lived. In the case of the cheaper yen, the boost to exporte...