Safe havens are all relative. After being one of the worst-performing equity markets of the past 20 years, Japan has become a popular destination for fund flows as investors search for protection in volatile markets.

Japanese equity performance has been poor, with the Tokyo Price Index falling 9.4% over the past month. But other equity markets have been worse: the S&P 500 has fallen 10.1% and the EuroStoxx 50 has fallen 12.6%.