After dividends, you broke even after inflation (-0.096% return) if you dumped your life savings into the Nikkei in Jan 1990 and never invested another dime.
But if you kept investing incrementally over the years, like most people do, then annual returns went to 2.5% after inflation in 1995-2000, to 6.5% in 2005 and 9.4% in 2010.
After dividends, you broke even after inflation (-0.096% return) if you dumped your life savings into the Nikkei in Jan 1990 and never invested another dime.
But if you kept investing incrementally over the years, like most people do, then annual returns went to 2.5% after inflation in 1995-2000, to 6.5% in 2005 and 9.4% in 2010.