I think you'd come out ahead reinvesting dividends (play with a calculator like https://dqydj.com/nikkei-return-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/nikkei-return-calc

I think you'd come out ahead reinvesting dividends (play with a calculator like https://dqydj.com/nikkei-return-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/nikkei-return-calculator/), but yeah, the returns are abysmal even accounting for that. They've had low to no inflation for decades but even the nominal returns aren't good. I am not sure how the returns look if you account for cost averaging vs. lump sum investing.