NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Could Japan at last be back? Over the past 12 months, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index has returned 32 percent, nearly twice as much as U.S. blue chips.

And although its market has retreated over the past few weeks (as have stock markets around the world), Japan's economic fundamentals are still improving. Its trade with China is booming, and both corporate profits and consumer spending are getting stronger. The country's gross domestic product grew a surprising 5.6 percent annualized in the last quarter.

But the real attraction of Japan, says veteran fund manager Peter Cundill, is value.

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