Yen at around 110 to the USD a key pain point for Japan firms

The yen's descent against the greenback to a six-year low of 110.09 on Oct 1 – a rapid 8% decline over three months – has prompted a chorus of complaints from companies that Abe's medicine could become poison – AFP Photo.

TOKYO: Nearly half of Japanese firms think the government should start defending the yen at this month's dollar high of 110, a Reuters survey shows, underscoring the threat that rising fuel and other import costs pose to a fragile economy.

Over the past two years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to boost the economy and cure deflation with bold monetary stimulus that has successfully wrought a much weaker yen.