Cash-loving Japanese savers opt to play it safe

Tokyo

THE Tokyo stock market might be riding two-decade highs, but a growing number of Japanese are choosing to stash their cash in the humble home safe, wary of negative interest rates in the bank and out of the view of eagle-eyed tax officials.

It is no secret that Japan has some of the world's biggest savers, learning from an early age to put aside some of their hard-earned wages for a likely long retirement.