Like many other Japanese investors, Hiroo Sato got burned a decade ago when the nation's speculative bubble burst. These days, he's finally getting some of his money back via a rebounding stock market.
But the 71-year-old retired bank executive is also putting more than one-fifth of his money into a foreign investment -- low-risk variable annuities from the U.S. insurer Hartford Life.
Overseas investments, which Japanese have long shunned, are giving the country's latest economic recovery a greater chance of success than previous, abortive comebacks.