The stock market has stayed the course in making gains, and the benchmark Nikkei 225 average finished at 19,254.25 on Friday, its highest level in 15 years, and top government officials were quick to give credit to "Abenomics" economic and financial policies, claiming they have been a boon for market participants.
But skepticism has remained strong among analysts and traders. All market participants know that the Tokyo Stock Exchange has, more or less, been propped up by massive buying out of public funds, including those from Japan's public pension funds and the Bank of Japan.
The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest institutional investor, is often compared to a "whale" in the Tokyo stock market given its massive assets — estimated at around ¥130 trillion.