Japan's Yen Hits New Low, Shoppers Going Japan Crazy

Above, the Shibuya 109. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The weakened Japanese yen has made Hong Kong residents, among others, to stock up on yen and flock to Japan in record numbers. The U.S. dollar has also reached heights not seen since 2007.

According to Hong Kong's The Standard:

Hongkongers are stocking up on the yen and making plans for travel to Japan as the currency drops to a new low of 6.269. 

This came as the dollar sat around eight-year highs against the yen yesterday. 

In Tokyo, the greenback bought 123.66 yen, at one point reaching 123.69, its highest since mid-2007. 

Long queues were seen outside forex dealers in Hong Kong, with about three dozen speculators queuing up at shops in Central. 

Japan's foreign arrivals rose to a record of 1.764 million last month, up 43.3 percent from a year earlier, figures from Japan National Tourism Organization last week show. 

The agency also said arrivals from China more than doubled last month from the year before, exceeding 400,000 for the first time on a monthly basis.

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