Yen

Reporting from Tokyo The Japanese are legendary shoppers, paying top prices from Honolulu to Helsinki for gifts and adornments. In Tokyo, a walk through the department stores and Pritzker Prize-winner-designed boutiques in the Ginza and Omote-Sando districts is enough to make one wonder, "What Japanese recession?" Look closer, however, and you'll discover another breed of shop where consumers, from Japan and increasingly from overseas, hunt for everyday treasures. Maybe because of the recession, or maybe because even Japanese consumers know a good deal when they see one, 100-yen shops — Japan's equivalent of the dollar store — are booming.

After dealing with floods, earthquakes and a super-strong yen, Toyota Motor Corp. is following a fourth quarter in which income quadrupled with a similarly optimistic forecast for 2013. The Japanese car company, which last year relinquished the title of world's largest automaker to General Motors Co., said it earned 121 billion yen, or $1.52 billion, in the quarter ended March 31. That's compared with the 25.4-billion yen profit recorded during the same quarter a year earlier.

The Group of 7 industrialized nations have agreed to act together to try to stop the Japanese yen from strengthening further by intervening in currency markets, an extraordinary step to avert more damage to the country's battered economy. The decision, announced by Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Tokyo, came after the yen's value had surged to a record 76.25 per dollar in Asian trading Thursday in the U.S. from 79.39 on Wednesday and about 83 a week earlier. "The Japanese market is not in chaos and will continue to be healthy," Noda said in a televised morning press conference.

Kazuo Hirai had little to celebrate after just being crowned the next chief executive of Sony Corp. Pummeled by a weak global economy, natural disasters and a strong yen that made its products more expensive overseas, Sony said it was on track to lose $2.86 billion in its current fiscal year, one of the Japanese technology and entertainment giant's worst annual results. The projected annual loss was more than double what Sony anticipated just three months ago when it forecast a $1.2-billion loss for its fiscal year ending March 31. Although the lion's share of the additional red ink - about $1.5 billion - would come from one-time charges from the sale of its stake in an LCD panel facility, foreign exchange fluctuations and other write-offs, about $181 million would be attributed to weakness in Sony's performance, analysts said.

The dollar plunged to a postwar low against the Japanese yen for the second straight day in Tokyo today, then gave a mixed performance in quiet European trading. European currency dealers said the dollar traded within a narrow range as falling oil prices and a related decline in U.S. interest rates were offset by fears that central banks might intervene to prevent the dollar from falling further. In Tokyo, the dollar closed at 174.90 yen, down from Monday's 175.

Sony Corp.'s fiscal second-quarter profit plunged 72% as a surging yen wiped out the benefits of strong flat-panel TV and PlayStation 3 sales, as well as box-office revenue from the movie "Hancock." Sony said Wednesday that it posted a net profit of 20.8 billion yen ($214 million) for the July-September period, down from 73.7 billion yen ($696 million) a year earlier. Sales slipped 0.5% to 2.072 trillion yen ($21.4 billion). Sony said its core electronics sector enjoyed particularly healthy demand for flat-panel TVs, Vaio personal computers and single-lens reflex cameras.

A record 8.43 million Japanese traveled abroad last year, up 23% from 6.83 million in 1987, due to the strong yen and a continued boom in tourism, a government report said today. The top destination was Hawaii, which drew 1.37 million Japanese, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. The overseas travelers chalked up a $15.8-billion deficit in the 1988 balance of travel payments, against Japan's overall trade surplus of $95 billion.

The U.S. dollar plunged Monday on foreign exchange markets here, closing at 171.90 yen after dipping as low as 171.50, its lowest rate since World War II. The dollar slipped steadily in heavy trading in spite of reported daylong intervention by the Bank of Japan in support of the U.S. currency.

Re "It's not the yen, it's the mileage," Opinion, Jan. 30 This one-sided, Detroit-bashing and Japan-cheering Op-Ed is a disappointment. It also is a cheap shot. Daniel Griswold accuses the U.S. auto industry of trying to make Japan a "scapegoat." On the contrary, Daimler Chrysler, Ford and General Motors have been open about the challenges presented by the intense competitive struggle underway in the U.S. market and their on-going corporate restructuring plans. We apologize to no one for raising to U.S. policymakers Japan's policy of massive currency intervention and manipulation as an unfair trading practice that is damaging our industry.

The U.S. dollar topped the psychologically important 140 yen level Monday amid ongoing concern over the future of Japan's economic recovery. Meanwhile, Wall Street stocks rose and bonds held mostly steady ahead of key economic data and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan's speech later in the week. Many on Wall Street believe the recent pullback in stocks has run its course.

Toyota Motor Corp slumped to its first quarterly loss in two years after the March 11 disaster virtually halted production, and the Japanese auto giant warned the stronger yen was hobbling it in the battle against South Korean rivals. The loss was smaller than investors feared and the world's largest automaker said supply chains were recovering quickly, enabling it to raise its full-year operating profit forecast by half, to 450 billion yen ($5.9 billion). Analysts expect a stronger showing for the year to March 2012 from Toyota, which is typically conservative in its forecasts, but highlighted the challenges ahead.

Nintendo Co. stayed deep in the red in the latest quarter, forcing the Japanese video game giant to cut its full-year forecasts and slash prices on its new 3DS handheld device. Nintendo posted a net loss of 25.5 billion yen ($324 million) in the April-June period, worse than the 25.2 billion yen loss a year earlier. For the fiscal year through March 2012, Nintendo expects net profit of 20 billion yen, down 82% from its previous outlook, on sales of 900 billion yen. Sales during the quarter slumped more than 50%. The Kyoto-based company blamed its lackluster sales on a dearth of hit titles for the Wii and 3DS, as well as a strong yen. To fuel momentum, Nintendo decided it needed to dramatically drop prices just five months after it launched the 3-D version of its DS handheld device to high hopes.

The Group of 7 industrialized nations have agreed to act together to try to stop the Japanese yen from strengthening further by intervening in currency markets, an extraordinary step to avert more damage to the country's battered economy. The decision, announced by Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Tokyo, came after the yen's value had surged to a record 76.25 per dollar in Asian trading Thursday in the U.S. from 79.39 on Wednesday and about 83 a week earlier. "The Japanese market is not in chaos and will continue to be healthy," Noda said in a televised morning press conference.

Andy Roddick never did figure it out. The big serve that kept kicking up chalk dust, the cruelly low-bouncing groundstrokes, the slippery volleys that would skid past a lunging Roddick — all of it just too perplexing until the three-time Wimbledon finalist who was seeded fifth here trudged off Court 2 with a soggy towel draped around his slumped shoulders. Yen-Hsun Lu, a 26-year-old son of a chicken salesman from Taiwan who said he had no family in the crowd and who gave himself little hope after the fourth set, achieved a career best, beating Roddick, 4-6, 7-6 (3)

From LAX, JAL, All Nippon, American, United, Northwest and Singapore offer nonstop service to Tokyo. Connecting service (change of planes) is offered on United. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $950. THE BEST WAY TO TOKYO TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 81 (country code for Japan) and the local number. WHERE TO SHOP Tokyo: The Daiso, Harajuku store, Village 107 Building, 1-19-24 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku; 3-5775-9641, http://www.

Reporting from Tokyo The Japanese are legendary shoppers, paying top prices from Honolulu to Helsinki for gifts and adornments. In Tokyo, a walk through the department stores and Pritzker Prize-winner-designed boutiques in the Ginza and Omote-Sando districts is enough to make one wonder, "What Japanese recession?" Look closer, however, and you'll discover another breed of shop where consumers, from Japan and increasingly from overseas, hunt for everyday treasures. Maybe because of the recession, or maybe because even Japanese consumers know a good deal when they see one, 100-yen shops — Japan's equivalent of the dollar store — are booming.

Kikuhei Sakatsume and his wife, Mitsui, have spent the last 40 years putting the finishing touches on stainless steel tableware. The other day, they were at work in the wooden shack behind their house. Seated at opposite sides of an electric motor, they pressed the knives, one by one, against the grinding wheels. "I do the blades and my wife does the handles," Sakatsume, 65, told a visitor. "But if our income declines much more, we'll close the shop and live off our pensions."

Stan Thomas Head of high school sports federation Stan Thomas, 78, who served as commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section from 1986 until 1993, when he was forced to resign over disputed expense-account reports, died Wednesday at an Orange County hospital after a heart attack. Thomas, who lived in Fullerton, had been battling illnesses for the last 11 years, according to his son, Chris. As commissioner of the body that governs high school sports, Thomas was credited with improving relations among the state's various high school organizations and praised for his administrative and managerial skills.