First, the political settlement, and the sweeping away of a Liberal Democrat Party that has held virtually uninterrupted sway over the country for 54 years.
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has an opportunity to break with its predecessor's policies, and has pledged to reform the bureaucracy, introduce incentives to increase birth rates, and give smaller and medium-sized businesses a fillip through tax breaks.
To counter the less enthusiastic view, we have those who point up the positives. Japan has demonstrated stability in the global economic crisis. More, its technological expertise is second to none, and its advances in developing green products such as solar cells can only find increasing demand in the wider world. The country is wealthy, and sits on a pile of untapped household savings.
For all that, one cannot entirely avoid a return to uneasiness. Yes, as an Asian hub, Japan continues to forge trade links with other neighbouring countries, but just 6 of these account for 40 per cent of its trade. Then, the strength of the yen, and the weakness of export demand are holding the economy back at a time when the income required to service official debt and social provision has shrunk.
How this has shaped up for investors might be indicated by the progress of the Japan sector and its constituents over the past two years. The Financial Express chart shows how this grouping has fared against other major investment destinations.
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Inevitably, sector averages mask a wide range of outcomes. The BlackRock Japan fund will not have done its investors any favours by dropping 52 per cent of its total return in the 10 years to 4 November 2009. Trying to look on the bright side, this period covered a dark time in Japan's economic history, and there could have been some hope as conditions started to bottom out and improve recently. Regrettably not: this fund's TR dropped 35 per cent in the past 3 years, and posts a negative 5 per cent in the 12 months-to-date.
One fund at the other end of the scale is Neptune Japan Opportunities. The fund has clocked up an impressive 115 per cent return over the past 5 years and has gained 29.5 per cent in the year-to-date.
This is not to say that the sector and the Japanese economy - does not carry its risks. The median risk measure - volatility - runs at 17 per cent over 3 years. BlackRock's fund would have delivered an 18.3 per cent oscillation either side of its median return, compared with the sector's average volatility of 16.9, a further concern for its investors.
Sure, Neptune's offering sits in the top three slot for volatility - at 21 per cent - but this could be a risk worth taking on when the total return numbers come in.
At this stage at least there is an outside chance that DPJ-driven reforms will be able to stimulate domestic consumer spending - the lack of which has been a significant factor in Japan's post-1989 economic woes.
Certainly, investors in the Japan sector, whether the die-hards or newly-enthused entrants, will not want to see a re-run of its 33 per cent fall in total return over the 10 years to the end of October 2009. The lesson is that this sector has much to offer for the well-researched investor.