Japan's two major business groups have jointly called for action, urging the government to intervene as the weakening yen intensifies pressure on businesses and households.

According to reports, the leaders of Japan's two major business lobbying groups both stated in interviews that the ongoing depreciation of the Japanese yen is pushing up import costs, creating a double pressure on Japanese households and businesses, and they called on the government to take targeted measures to address it. Yoshinobu Tsutsui, Chairman of Japan's largest business organization, the Keidanren, pointed out in a joint interview that the current public opinion emphasizes the positive impact of the depreciation of the yen on the profitability of export companies. However, he emphasized that from the perspective of the country's overall competitiveness in the long term, it is more desirable to push the yen exchange rate towards the appreciation range. Although the Bank of Japan has raised interest rates twice in 2025, the yen is still one of the few currencies that did not benefit from the weakening against the US dollar that year. The recent depreciation of the yen and the inflationary pressure it caused did help the central bank convince the dovish Prime Minister Sanae Takai's cabinet to agree to the rate hike last month, but the uncertainty about the pace of future rate hikes has dampened the yen's recovery momentum. By the end of 2025, the yen was trading at around 157 against the US dollar, a level that is approaching Japan's official warning line for stabilizing the exchange rate. Expectations for government intervention in the market have also increased. The last time Japan intervened to support the yen exchange rate was in July 2024 when the Bank of Japan initiated foreign exchange purchases after the yen fell to a 38-year low of 161.96 against the US dollar. Ken Kobayashi, Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, admitted in another interview that the weakening yen is leading to a continuous increase in procurement costs for raw materials for small and medium-sized enterprises. He stated that the depreciation of the yen has become one of the main reasons for high inflation in Japan, and the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan urgently need to take action to dispel the feeling of helplessness among small and medium-sized enterprise owners when importing foreign raw materials.