Japan¡¯s stock market rewarded retail investors for most of the year, setting fresh records and swelling their portfolios.

That¡¯s given some the confidence to remain in the market even after the crash of the last three days.

The Nikkei 225 share average fell 12.4% on Monday, the biggest percentage fall since Black Monday in 1987, in which a one-day plunge shaved 23% off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.