Warren E. Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world’s wealthiest investors, told Reuters on Monday that the fall in the market represented a buying opportunity because Japan would bounce back. “It will take some time to rebuild, but it will not change the economic future of Japan,” Mr. Buffett said during a visit to Daegu, South Korea, after which he was to meet with Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean president. “If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.” 
 
 While Japanese markets and businesses were closed on Monday for the Spring Equinox Holiday, investors around the world were closely watching the efforts of the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power to end the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. “Frequently, something out of the blue like this, an extraordinary event, really creates a buying opportunity,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “I have seen that happen in the United States, I have seen that happen around the world. I don't think Japan will be an exception," said the 80-year-old investor, dubbed the "Sage of Omaha" for his successful long-term investment strategy. Japan's Nikkei share average rose 2.7 percent on Friday, buoyed by the G7 support, but still ended the week down around 10 percent, with some $350 billion wiped off share values -- the market's biggest weekly slide since the global financial crisis in 2008.
– There’s no need to panic about Japanese markets post-earthquake, says Warren Buffett: Such cataclysmic events often create a “buying opportunity,” he tells Reuters from South Korea. “It will take some time to rebuild,” but the market plunge “will not change the economic future of Japan.” Put it this way: “If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.” A Hong Kong investor agrees: “I saw lots of buying last week by overseas investors,” notes the Asian equities boss. “I tend to agree with Mr. Buffett for the long term. I suppose the economy will be weaker over the short term but reconstruction spending will eventually help.” And there will be plenty of that: The World Bank today said it expected the 5-year reconstruction effort to cost as much as $235 billion. Shares of Japan’s top home construction firm have already skyrocketed, the New York Times reports.