The last cherry blossoms of the season are with us in Japan.
But the Japanese currency, the Yen, is anything…but!
It has receded to a 34-year low against the US dollar late April.
Many must be bewildered.
Is it a synonym of something ominous or a false dichotomy?
Surely, tourists to Japan must be happy with better deals they are getting.
Yet, it is a bit more damning than that.
The future of Japan appears to hang in a balance. Is at a historic turning point? Whatever, all of us will be affected by the outcome. 

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Just as things appear to be looking up for Japan as a Bloomberg Opinion columnist Gearoid Reidy put forward in his elegant personal perspective: “How a Fading Japan Regained Its Superpowers”.
Three takes:
Leadership: Japan’s woes were structural and beyond the control of any one person. But former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proved that an individual leader still mattered when it came to picking the right solutions.
Economic Visionary: Tokyo understood the need to de-risk, if not decouple, from China much earlier. They became pioneers of the “China +1” philosophy, diversifying investment from the mainland.
Foreign Policy: Japan has learned how to exercise a different kind of power. Tourism is today, perhaps Japan’s greatest economic success story of the past 30 years. Some 33 million visitors are expected in 2024, seven times the number of two decades ago. They’re absorbing trends they encounter, further spreading the gospel of its soft power.
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Then something happened at the end of April as put into context by Leo Lewis of the Financial Times.
Aging: Japan’s Population Strategy Council suggested that 43 per cent of Japan’s 1,729 municipalities is “likely to eventually disappear”. This is based on latest government projections for regional populations of women of childbearing age by 2050.
Economy: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry concluded that real wage and GDP growth will remain flat without serious changes in corporate management.
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But we know from experience that the forex market, or rather tumbling Japanese Yen against the US dollar can’t be taken for granted. 
Yet, it does signal a moment of historic transition. Will Japan make it, sustain its path towards recovery and return to a viable superpower as Bloomberg’s Reidy believes. 
Or there is a big risk of failure of corporate sector reacting to a workforce, a shareholder base and a consumer mindset in an uncharted territory which as FT’s Lewis put it: could retard Japan into an “emerging-economy status” and lower standard of living for its people.
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The cherry bloom is said to take four months to spread across Japan. 
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Source: How a Fading Japan Regained Its Superpowers - Gearoid Reidy 
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/features/2024-04-24/how-japan-regained-its-superpowers-and-recovered-from-recession
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Japan is haunted by a return to emerging-economy status – Leo Lewis
https://on.ft.com/3UuGI7h