The strong yen
2009 年 3 月 6 日Yen has been rising since last year.
It is the first time in 12years that US dollar falling under 100yen.
It seems that the strong yen is because of USD retreat and the others.
Travel agencies and import shops are making active plans to return profit from the strong yen.
Most of the Japanese large enterprises are export-oriented firms, so the stock market is moved from joy to sorrow by stock price fluctuations.
According to a historical chronology the bank of Japan, exchange rate was introduced in Japan in 1949.
It was in 4 years from the end of World War 2.
Yen has started 360yen per dollar which was a fixed exchange rate.
Then it has passed the Smithsonian Agreement and became to the floating exchange rate in 1973.
With the growth of Japanese companies, Yen has risen since the postwar reconstruction.
And as the export volume increases, the stronger the yen became. And as a result, the strong yen seems to have made a decrease in profits for Japanese companies.
But our country depends on also imports for resources.
There are many kinds of the imported goods, for example electric machines and foods.
I don’t think the strong yen has only bad things because we can buy the imported goods at a low price.
Moreover, export companies of Japan are supported by technical innovations and their big appeal must not be only low prices.
Therefore now I think if people prevent themselves from buying any goods on the world economic deterioration, it would be connected with a more serious situation than the strong yen.
On newspapers and daily TV shows, we see nothing but lockouts, layoffs and wages cut for the restructuring flood of large companies.
We want an economic countermeasure of Government immediately.
And I would like watch how Japanese companies will overcome this economic crisis, and also think what I can do as an individual.