Japanese Yen （日本円）

It has been about 3 years since the Japanese yen began to fall against the US dollar. It was around 100 yen against the US dollar 3 years ago, around February 2021. Since then, it began to gradually fall and fell to 161 yen in July, 2024. It means that it has lost the value by 60%. And it moved in the 150 yen range all the time in 2024. It seems to keep the same level in year 2025, too. The weak Japanese yen has attracted lots of foreign tourists. And it has brought a lot of benefits to the tourist business. It has also greatly helped the export-led businesses, such as the car business. So, not everything it does is bad.
But the 150 yen level is too weak and has affected my daily life. It has continued to rise prices, which has made me very cautious about shopping. In particular, I have completely lost my interest in dining out. Dining out costs much more than it used to.
It is not only I who are suffering from the weak yen. When I was in Turkey on business, I was told by my customer that he had been suffering from the weak yen. He had a housing loan in the Japanese yen (not the Turkish lira). He got it because the Japanese yen was expected to be more stable than the local currency. But despite his expectations, it had suddenly started to fall, increasing his loan. I do not know how it went after that. But the yen is still continuing to fall, so his loan should continue to increase if it has not yet repaid back in full.

　円が米ドルに対して下落し始めてから約3年です。3年前の２月頃は1ドル100円台だったのに。それから徐々に下がり始め、2024年7月には161円まで下落しました。円の価値が6割もが下がったことになります。そして昨年は、ほぼ一年中、150円台でした。今年も同じ水準が続きそうです。円安は多くの外国人観光客を惹きつけ、観光ビジネスを潤しています。また、自動車業界などの輸出主導型の業界も大いに恩恵を受けています。なので、すべてが悪いわけではありません。
　でも、150円台は行き過ぎです。ボクの日常生活も影響を受けています。物価が上がり続け、買い物にすごく慎重になりました。特に、夜の外食にはまったく興味がなくなりました。夜の外食は以前よりずっと高くなってしまいました。
　円安に苦しんでいるのはボクだけではありません。仕事でトルコに行ったとき、お客さんから円安に苦しんでいると聞かされました。彼は（トルコリラではなく）日本円で住宅ローンを組んでいたのです。日本円はトルコリラより安定してると思って、日本円でローンを組んだようです。でも、期待とは裏腹に、円は突然下落を始め、住宅ローンが増える一方なのです。その後どうなったかは知りませんが、円はまだ下落を続けています。なので、ローンを全額返済していない限り、ローンは増え続けているはずです。