Assets held by Japanese households hit a record high 1.454 quadrillion yen as of Sept. 30 mainly due to income increases and rising share prices amid the economic upturn, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.

According to the central bank's quarterly Flow of Funds Accounts report, the assets grew by 46.4 trillion yen from a year earlier to the highest level on record. The central bank began keeping such records in 1979.

Household assets held in cash and deposits totaled 773.6 trillion yen, down 4.4 trillion yen from a year earlier.

The amount of household assets in cash and deposits dipped 2.1 percentage points from the previous year to 53.2 percent, which is close to the record low of 52.3 percent registered in the third quarter of 1998.

In contrast, the amount of funds held in investment trusts, bonds and stocks expanded, with their share of total household assets steadily growing.

The shift from deposits to market-oriented financial products indicates many people have begun to take risks in managing their finances.

The April 1 abolition of the government's full-refund guarantees on time deposits at financial institutions is believed to be accelerating the trend.

According to the report, individual assets held in the form of government bonds and state-guaranteed fiscal investment and loan-program bonds surged 40.4 percent to a record high 25.0 trillion yen.

Assets held in investment trusts climbed 28.4 percent to 44.7 trillion yen.

A BOJ official said the components of investment-trust funds have dramatically changed recently as the weight of stocks has fallen to around 30 percent while that of overseas bonds has risen to near 40 percent.

Assets held in stocks also surged 24.8 percent to 95.7 trillion yen.

Financial assets held by private-sector nonfinancial companies meanwhile totaled 738.6 trillion yen, compared with 698.1 trillion yen in the July-September period of 2004.