People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
According to this year's World Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. in June, the "high net-worth individuals," defined as those with financial assets of $1 million or more, came to an estimated 1.312 million in Japan at the end of 2003, up 6 percent from the previous year.
Japan's millionaires -- part of some 7.7 million worldwide -- surged largely due to a continued high savings rate of 28.7 percent of income, and the better than expected 2.7 percent growth in gross domestic product in 2003, Merrill Lynch said.