Forget what you’ve heard about Japan

It’s not just another false dawn in the land of the rising sun, argues Rathbones’ Ed Smith

Click through the slides below to find out why

Japan’s unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to an astonishingly low 2.2% in May, and the labour force participation rate has shot up to a 15-year high as wage increases and childcare reforms entice more workers back in.

This should lead consumer confidence higher.

Despite rising wages, operating margins (a measure of profitability) for large Japanese firms were maintained near their highs in the latest quarter.

Sceptics who think Japan will never pull out of its rut would do well to turn to the history books. People said the same thing about Germany in the 1990s.