If there’s one clear winner owing its success to declining equity markets in the past few months, it’s gold. The precious metal has been hovering around a six-week high recently of more than US$1,200. And some analysts predict that will be more than $1300 USD in the near future.

But whether you believe gold will continue to appreciate (or is overpriced and due to implode), the metal is one of just a few assets that have seen a steady increase since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

So what are some of the others that have joined gold in its appreciation rally? Well, one might surprise you: it’s the Japanese yen.

Of course, an appreciating yen doesn’t really make sense — Japan is an export-driven economy that suffers when the value of its currency trends upwards. But alas, this has been the case so far, according to MarketWatch. Even more surprising, the yen is apparently a preferred safe haven in Asia right now — even above gold.

“The yen is definitely the preferred safe-haven investment right now over gold, which has only moved slightly higher,” Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT, told Marketwatch. “Typically gold is bought as an inflation hedge as well, but the deflationary environment that we are living in right now makes it less attractive.

Although Ms. Lien said gold will again be the safe-haven king eight to 16 months from now, in the interim, Asian investors are opting for the yen.

If both continue to increase, the next major levels would be 83.750 in the U.S. dollar/yen, and 1,250 in the gold/U.S. dollar, according to Richard Hastings a macro and consumer strategist at Global Hunter Securities.

Of course, that’s entirely contingent on current trends continuing, Mr. Hastings told Marketwatch. And if the past few months are any indication, today’s markets are anything but predictable.