Japan vs United States market comparison
Comparable ETF proxies for returns, valuation, growth and yield.
Japan: Prices through Oct 8, 2026 · Fundamentals date unverified
United States: Prices through Oct 8, 2026 · Fundamentals date unverified
Japan's ETF proxy (EWJ) returned +24.17% versus +15.93% for United States's ETF proxy (SPY) over the available 1Y USD comparison window (Oct 8, 2025 to Oct 8, 2026), a 8.24 percentage-point lead for Japan.
Total Return
1Y return · Oct 8, 2025 to Oct 8, 2026 · USD
Valuation
P/E · Named ETF proxies. Descriptive comparison, not an investment rating.
Growth
Earnings · Named ETF proxies. Descriptive comparison, not an investment rating.
Yield
Portfolio dividend yield · Named ETF proxies. Descriptive comparison, not an investment rating.
| Measure* | Japan | United States | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M return | -0.65% | +1.04% | -1.69 pp |
| YTD return | +21.19% | +14.10% | 7.09 pp |
| 1Y return | +24.17% | +15.93% | 8.24 pp |
| P/E | 16.76× | 20.40× | -3.64× |
| P/B | 1.82× | 4.67× | -2.85× |
| P/S | 1.53× | 3.37× | -1.84× |
| Earnings growth | +12.05% | +16.65% | -4.60 pp |
| Projected growth | +12.05% | +16.65% | -4.60 pp |
| Sales growth | +6.90% | +7.32% | -0.42 pp |
| Dividend yield | 2.07% | 1.14% | 0.93 pp |
Proxy: Japan · EWJ. USD returns of the named ETF proxy, not an exhaustive national index. Return prices through 2026-10-08. Fundamental characteristics: Sep 30, 2026 (reported or retrieval; legacy provenance unverified).
Proxy: S&P 500 · SPY. USD returns of the named ETF proxy, not an exhaustive national index. Return prices through 2026-10-08. Fundamental characteristics: Sep 30, 2026 (reported or retrieval; legacy provenance unverified).
* P/E, P/B and P/S describe the proxy's published portfolio valuation; earnings, projected earnings and sales growth retain their published definitions. Dividend yield measures the underlying equity portfolio, not cash distributions. Lower valuation multiples rank first; higher returns, growth and yield rank first. Group medians use covered peers with the same measure. These are descriptive comparisons, not recommendations.
ETF holdings, sector weights, currency exposure and reporting dates affect comparisons. USD adjusted-price returns include distributions where the underlying data permits. Charts use available stored history, not necessarily inception; comparison returns are rebased on common observation dates. Fundamental history requires three verified observations spanning six months and is never inferred from today's ratios.
Related research
Informational only, not investment advice. Cached proxy prices refresh after the US close; proxy fundamentals are checked monthly and retain their own observation dates.