Japanese stock market becomes a safe haven from the "Trump storm"! In 2025, a large amount of foreign capital poured in, with a net buying amount reaching a 12-year high.

Note that last year, foreign investors flocked to the Japanese stock market, with their buying reaching the highest level since 2013. During the Trump administration, investors sought refuge from the uncertainty of the US economy. According to data from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, overseas investors bought around 5.4 trillion yen (approximately 350 billion US dollars) of Japanese equities in 2025, which is 35 times the buying amount in 2024. The quantity of Japanese stocks bought by overseas investors reached a new high since 2013, second only to domestic Japanese companies. With the continued trend of Japanese companies buying back their stocks, Japanese companies net bought 10.5 trillion yen of domestic stocks last year. Japanese stock analyst Peter Smithers wrote in a report that last year's "aggressive" foreign buying was largely driven by optimism towards the Japanese economy, with the Bank of Japan's normalization of monetary policy playing a supportive role. He wrote, "Foreign investors tend to place high importance on the strength of the economy and economic expectations." In a year where Trump's tariff policies led to increasing uncertainty in the US economic outlook, Japan became an attractive alternative, especially considering the efforts Japanese companies put into improving capital efficiency and shareholder returns. The bullish attitude of foreign investors contrasts sharply with Japanese retail investors, who net sold 3.6 trillion yen of Japanese stocks last year. However, Smithers warned that as the Japanese stock index has reached historical highs, foreign investors may become more selective in their choices this year.