Japanese consumers have since 2002 seen the Nikkei 225 index return of 34 percent

"during the past 10 years, the Nikkei 225 (equivalent to our Standard & Poor’s 500 index) was the worst-performing stock market index of the largest 23 industrialized nations. Since 2002, the Nikkei has posted a return of 34 percent, while the average return for the 22 other stock market indexes has been 137 percent."

Source: Japanese economy has good potential in coming years

May 14, 2013 

Lake County News Sun Times

By Malcolm Berko

http://newssun.suntimes.com/business/berko/20099937-420/japanese-economy-has-good-potential-in-coming-years.html