By Keith Fitz-Gerald
Investment Director
Money Morning/The Money Map Report
KYOTO, JAPAN - On one of my first mornings at our home here, my family and I headed for the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. Built in the 8th century by the powerful Hata family, the shrine is best known for the four consecutive kilometers of orange Torii gates covering the mountain on which it was built.
My wife’s family has been coming here for centuries, making it a familiar and comfortable place that we enjoy very much.
It’s also a spot that tends to put things into perspective - like the Bank of Japan’s recent decision to keep its key interest rate at 0.5%.
So why is this move by Japan’s central bank important? That’s easy.
We’ve been hearing for years how the Japanese economy is poised for a recovery. And each New Year is supposed to be "the" year - yet it just somehow never seems to happen - at least according to folks who don’t spend as much time here as I do.
Sure Japan went to hell and back during the "Lost Decade" that stretched from 1990 - 2000, but this country’s economy is recovering - even if the securities markets don’t yet reflect this: They’re up only marginally so far this year.
But that speaks volumes about what investors should expect when thinking about Japan. For instance, the …



