The Japanese consumer is very isolated from financial market dynamics.

All the components of demand, whether consumption, capital spending or public spending, all of them are likely to be negative. You are in a recession.

All liquidity starts in Japan, the world's largest creditor country. When rates go up here, rates go up everywhere.

Health-care reform is a huge issue. It's also a huge battle. There are big vested interests that are just as bad as contractors and postal lobbyists.

In our view, Japan's policymakers are in no rush to tighten.

In the 1990s, Japan was a reluctant investor overseas. Now that the domestic economy is doing better, Japan will take on more (overseas investment) risks, and that should benefit the rest of Asia as well, including Indonesia.

The urgency to appoint a true deflation fighter at the Bank of Japan is not going to disappear with this report.

The banks are back, ... A normal economy where you've got not just growth in employment and wages, but also growth in credit is likely to become more pronounced.

The big issue out there is who's going to take on Godzilla bank, i.e. the Post Office. It can turn into a problem.

Consumer spending has become a credible engine of growth for the Japanese economy. Wages and incomes are increasing, job security is improving. It's a virtuous circle.