Who said the world’s second-biggest economy was normal again? There has been a lot of talk recently about how Japan, after years on the economic funny farm, has at last rejoined the mainstream. Certainly, more than five years of continuous – albeit unspectacular – growth has put an end to many of the aberrations that resulted from the collapse of the bubble economy in 1990: zero interest rates, economic contraction, ever- falling asset prices, bad-debt-infested banks and chronic deflation.

But last week, the view from Tokyo was still distinctly odd. Part of the reason is that, while the rest of the world has been intoxicated with the sort of “sophisticated” investment vehicles that are now imploding, Japan’s conservative financial market has remained a risk-averse backwater. A benefit of not attending the party is not having to clear up afterwards.