1. A lot of Japanese companies hoard money instead of returning it 2. Supposedly the Japanese government is trying to get them to 'return' it to shareholders

1. A lot of Japanese companies hoard money instead of returning it 2. Supposedly the Japanese government is trying to get them to 'return' it to shareholders 3. Some people believe the currency will go up making these bags of cash more valuable in dollar terms 4. Warren Buffet figured out he could borrow money in yen at a lower interest rate than their stocks pay out, use it to buy yen denominated stocks, and basically print free money. You can't do that but a lot of people are buying what he's buying.