Economy
Yen's Real Effective Rate Falls Below 1970, and Japan Calls It a Funeral
Japan's real effective exchange rate, the BIS-tracked composite measure of currency strength, fell to 66.33 (2020=100) in March 2026 — below the level recorded when the statistic began in 1970, when the yen was officially fixed at 360 to the dollar. Japanese reaction sites covered it less as a market story and more as confirmation of long-term economic decline.