What the $4.2 million Gold Christmas Tree in Tokyo Implies

A posh gold Christmas tree will highlight Tokyo’s celebration of the yuletide season

From Timescolonist.com (picture also from them)

For those seeking a glow to their Christmas this year, a jewellery store in downtown Tokyo has just the answer: a pure gold revolving “tree” covered in Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell and Cinderella.

The tree-like ornament is made of 40 kg (88 pounds) of pure gold, standing about 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) high and 1.2 metres in diameter. It is decorated with pure gold plate silhouette cutouts of 50 popular Disney characters and draped with ribbons made of gold leaf.

The price tag? A mere 350 million yen ($4.2 million).

Gold priced in yen has been approaching its previous record or a 13 month high as the BoJ continues to debase their currency.

(chart from gold.org)

This only means that the gold fever has been seeping into the public’s psyche. 

In contemporary terms, this could be seen as a bubble. But the real bubble has been in Bank of Japan’s balance sheet activities via QE nth edition. (chart from Dr. Ed’s Blog)

As Goldmoney founder and chairman James Turk recently pointed out

when the price of gold rises, wealth is simply being transferred from people who hold currency to people who hold gold. This wealth being transferred already exists. It is wealth held in the form of purchasing power

Tokyo’s $4.2 million gold Christmas tree may thus be seen as a sign or symbol of the growing recognition of gold’s status as the refuge of wealth.