TOKYO -- Foreign shareholders are becoming increasingly prominent at large Japanese corporations, with their stakes in the 225 companies that make up the Nikkei Stock Average averaging 35.3% at the end of fiscal 2014, up 0.3 percentage point from six months earlier and an all-time high.
Overseas investors are flocking to Japanese companies as a growing number of them release strong earnings and return more cash to shareholders. These investors have become a driving force behind the ongoing stock rally.