Templeton May Invest In 'Emerging Market' Japan: Mobius

Japan valuations "are getting very attractive," said Templeton Emerging Markets Executive Chairman Mark Mobius, so much so that the country is beginning to resemble an emerging market.

He told CNBC Tuesday Japanese companies are "getting tied more and more to emerging markets," particularly in China and India, and his company might consider investing in Japanese firms as a result.

"We would buy companies that have big presences in emerging markets," he said, "and in fact we’re able to do that now if a company has over 50% of its earnings or assets" in such markets as China, India or Thailand.

Templeton invests in semiconductor and technology firms based in Taiwan, which Mobius said may take some market share from Japanese companies suffering from supply-chain disruptions following the March earthquake and tsunami. However, his long-range view is those disruptions in Japan will be temporary.

The increasing price of oil is also a concern, but the world may be better prepared to handle a spike in oil prices than in the past, he said. "The good news is there are lots of replacements, which were not there during the last oil crisis. We have gas, we have coal, we have solar. We have so many other alternatives that the shift can be made now very logically and very profitably."