Since the Abe administration took power in Japan in December 2012, there have been talks about the government wanting pension funds in Japan to be more active and creative with the capital they have under management. The capital these funds have accumulated over the years is staggering. The largest of them, the Government Pension Investment Fund, has ¥124 trillion (US$1.21 trillion) under management.

Just to give you an idea how large this fund is, here are some comparisons. It is twice the size of Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds; more than four times the size of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest US public pension fund; and nearly seven times the size of the