2015 will be a turning point for Japan, say nation's biggest trading houses

Tokyo

JAPAN'S biggest trading houses are calling 2015 a pivotal year for the world's third-largest economy as cheap oil, easy money and a weaker yen promise to boost growth.

Twenty five years on from the bursting of Japan's bubble economy, which brought two decades of deflation, the nation is at a turning point with potential for "painful improvement" in the areas of employment, agriculture and health, said Marubeni Corp chief executive officer Fumiya Kokubu.

A confluence of factors gives Japan a unique advantage, according to Mitsub…