Tokyo | The luxury hotels clustered around the Imperial Palace, from the Otani with its centuries-old gardens to the Mandarin Oriental and its magnificent views of the sprawling city, have hosted more than their fair share of Australian private equity investors this year.

Federation Asset Management chief executive Cameron Brownjohn, who oversees investments of more than $3 billion, has been to Japan four times since January. Potentia Capital’s Michael McNamara has been five times. Tanarra Capital’s John Wylie has managed to get to Tokyo twice.