In my view, as an investor in Japan, these firms are the best entry points to getting access to business relationships (and key projects) across Asia. One can imagine these to be huge aggregators of business relationships and as central points (besides the banks which are getting away from cross-shareholder relationships) into the major _keiretsus_. This is the entry fee for being really in the know in corporate Japan.
And, as another commenter mentioned, getting a sweet arbitrage on the low borrowing rate and earning a nice dividend yield doesn't hurt.
And, as another commenter mentioned, getting a sweet arbitrage on the low borrowing rate and earning a nice dividend yield doesn't hurt.