I look at this chart like Al Gore stands on a mini-lift: in utter awe and wanting to share.
As far as I can recall from my many trips to Japan, the dollar had always edged out the yen. The first time I went in 2002, the rate was a nice conversion (for Americans), around 120~127 yen to the dollar. Ie, cashing in $500 yielded me ¥60,000, which felt like giving $500 to get $600. It's like opening up a cash register and taking a Franklin. When determining the value of something in yen, I always had to put in a fudge factor for what I thought it probably was in dollars.
Generally speaking here, I think that it's pretty normal for most folks who go abroad to think in terms of their own currency when determining the value of something.
With time this rate has fallen. Last spring, this rate was around 105~110 yen to the dollar. Not hateful, but a sign of change.
But with the fall of the economy, and the declining markets of both the US and Japan, the yen and dollar rates are out of whack. Last November, the yen actually overtook the dollar. With no planned trips to Japan at the time, I didn't feel any direct effects, but thinking about it was weird. 96¥ for my $1? Buh?
And then this image, which popped up in my Vista converter, taken on April 8, 2009. All the digits, all lined up. I call it the Spoton. An exact 1 to 1 ratio, how often do we see that?
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