Japanese Business Leaders Collectively Call for Stronger Yen — Even Export Beneficiaries Speak Up
nashnova research
Senior executives at Japan's major multinationals are openly calling for yen appreciation — including energy and shipping giants whose dollar revenues benefit directly from a weak yen. Currency volatility has become the single biggest obstacle to strategic planning, and the market is now almost fully pricing a Bank of Japan rate hike to 1.25% this week.
A weak yen boosts their earnings — so why are these companies complaining?
Inpex, Japan's largest energy company, earns nearly 90% of its revenue overseas in dollars. A weak yen should inflate its yen-denominated results — yet CEO Takayuki Ueda publicly called a rate around 100 per dollar the "appropriate" level.
This means → even the companies that gain the most from yen weakness now believe the accounting upside no longer outweighs the damage to Japan's broader economy.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, the world's largest tanker operator, also earns primarily in dollars. Chairman Takeshi Hashimoto said he worries a weak yen "could create turmoil in financial markets" and feels "comfortable" with the 150–155 range.
How exactly does currency volatility hurt these businesses?
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Chairman Yoshinori Kanehana said wild currency swings make it "impossible to formulate strategy" — calling it the company's "biggest issue" right now.
He added that if the yen strengthened to around 150, he would consider moving some manufacturing back to Japan from the U.S. Kawasaki Heavy currently operates 27 production sites overseas and 17 in Japan.
In plain terms = long-term capital decisions — where to build factories, how to budget costs — require a roughly stable exchange-rate outlook. When the rate changes daily, every investment becomes a gamble.
What exchange rate are Japanese companies actually planning around?
The Bank of Japan's July quarterly survey showed that Japanese firms set an average exchange-rate assumption of ¥152.51 per dollar for the second half.
At the time of the report, the dollar stood at ¥156.3 — roughly ¥4 weaker than the corporate "comfort zone."
This reflects a widening gap between corporate planning assumptions and market reality — a mismatch that compounds operating uncertainty on its own.
What will the Bank of Japan do this week — and what does it mean for the yen?
The market is now almost fully pricing a 25-basis-point hike to 1.25% at the BOJ's two-day meeting ending this Friday.
Ebury head of market strategy Matthew Ryan called the meeting "extremely high-risk" and expects the BOJ to hike and deliver hawkish guidance that "effectively endorses quarterly rate increases going forward."
This means → if the BOJ hikes as expected and strikes a hawkish tone, the yen could strengthen further — directly answering corporate Japan's collective plea. But if the language disappoints, the yen may come under renewed pressure, and the "strategy paralysis" executives describe will persist.
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