I wonder to what extent this reflects desperation for foreign currency (especially dollars) given the recent intervention by BoJ to stop the yen's freefall.
Can’t find the link at the moment, but some economists in Japan think it would have a real impact. Tourism has been a major industry for Japan in the last decade, and all those tourists buy up lots of yen for their trips.
This is very interesting considering most Japanese economic policy has been an attempt to reverse deflation or stagnation. Now it's inflating too fast?
It's nuanced. Consumer prices (with some exceptions, like gas and raw produce) and worker wages have barely moved at all. It's eerie.
It makes me sad to think about that a lot of service staff is already living tight on eq ~7 USD/h pay and very likely cost-of-living will continue to increase sharper than any pay increase. There's a large poverty in Japan you don't necessarily see on the surface.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/boj-keep-ultra-low-rate...
My guess is that this would be a drop in the bucket, but who knows?