It's still early, but there are signs Japan's equity market is approaching escape velocity when it comes to a force that has entranced it for years.
It's the yen, whose level against the dollar has generally been all you needed to know to tell where exporter-heavy indexes like the Nikkei 225 average were trading. Suddenly the link is loosening as the economy shows signs of stability and corporate earnings rise.
Even with the yen trading near a four-month high, the benchmark Topix has risen more than 6 percent since the start of the second quarter. Correlation between the two assets has fallen to minus 0.18, the lowest level since 2012, based on their weekly changes.