The currency thread was halted for some reason.

Someone opined recently that JPY was going to "crash" because of negative interest rates and it had fallen to 121 on the news. I tried to explain that it would not cause yen weakness; in fact, it was going to strengthen. Since then the JPY has strengthened by 7-8% vs. the USD. Both US and Japanese stock market weakness will reinforce this trend. If things get really ugly then the JPY will easily strengthen to (far) below 100.

BTW, how much does a liter of regular sell for currently in Japan?

Nobody buys regular these days. They're all buying 21 year old single malts.

When the JPY hits 80 they will be sitting outside a konbini drinking chuhai.

How much money do you (and or the other people from the other thread) plan to spend in Japan for a few pp rate change to have a material effect on you? My foreign Rolex bought on a strong dollar was only a few hundred bucks cheaper than the $7500 sticker US retailers have. These exchange rates don't make a difference to the everyday folk unless yall are planning to trade forex on a 1:100 leverage, which, if you are, come to my firm and let us make some money off of your speculations I could use an IWC to keep my Rolex and Hublot company.

They can also make a difference if you live in the U.S. and work as a translator for Japanese clients. A per-word rate that is US$0.18 at 80 yen to the dollar becomes $0.125 per 120 yen to the dollar.

Yea a hypothetical 80 vs 120 is a big difference, a hypothetical 40 vs 120 would make a even bigger difference.... A hypothetical 0.80 vs 120 would make a even BIGGER difference...

This is probably unusual, but I spend some 100 nights a year in Asia, paid by my own (not other people's) money. The weakness of the euro in 2015 cost me several thousand euros extra. This occurred even though I was able to shift some of my travel from countries with poor exchange rates (e.g., HK, TW) to places with decent rates (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan). So yes, exchange rates do have an effect on some of us, although of course you're right that, barring the most extreme swings, for the average 10 day trip to Japan the difference won't amount to more than a few hundred dollars.

80 vs 120 yen/USD makes a huge difference, say if you were to sack out at the Park Hyatt for a week.

Exception granted!

I'm not saying 80 vs 120 doesn't make a big difference, I'm saying 80 vs 120 rests on the assumption that usdjpy will go to 80. That's why I took that logic, extended it a bit more in my previous post, and said 0.80 vs 120 would make a bigger difference.... Now, hypothetical assumptions aside, and back to reality (where usdjpy isn't doomed to 80), I said a few points rise or tumble in usdjpy won't make a material difference to the everyday person.

Besides, I would imagine large corporations like Hyatt have a forex risk department, no? I know many luxury fashion retailers adjust their prices based on the dollar strength, if not on a market-triggered schedule then on a fixed schedule. Tom Ford didn't for a while, and I raided the store when the rubles tumbled.

I get paid in JPY but do most of my finance-related stuff with US based institutions so all of that is in USD. A move from 80 to 120 means a 33% pay cut all else being equal.

Though having said that as gnaget points out the USDJPY is inversely correlated to US markets. So all this time the yen was depreciating it was against a backdrop of strengthening markets. Meaning that if hedged properly the currency loss could be made whole through the stock market.

Also, a weaker yen means less income to report to the IRS and consequently less taxes to pay (from the perspective of someone like me who files taxes in the US).

So: stronger yen = higher income but lower return on investments + more to pay in taxes. (Though at the same time you have more USD to purchase cheaper stocks.)

weaker yen = lower income but higher return on investments and less taxes.