Yoshitake Matsumoto, President, Japan

The yen has depreciated for the first time in 24 years, but when the yen depreciated last time in 1998, I was assigned to the United States. When the yen depreciated in 1998, the transfer amount was about 3/4 of the amount when I was assigned to the United States. There is debate as to whether the depreciation of the yen is good or bad. The demerit of the depreciation of the yen is the burden on households, but it also has a significant impact on business-to-business transactions. The corporate goods price index in April this year grew by about 10.0% year-on-year.

The first quarter of our fiscal year 2023 is three months from March to the end of May. By the time this blog is published, our results are almost final. Looking at the current business progress in the four regions of the world, the boom in business in the U.S. stands out. In Japan, while the economic situation is unpredictable, semiconductor-related and automobile-related investments seem to be firm.

Since Japan Stratus Technology starts in March, in the middle of March, all employees held an event online to share their aims and policies for the new year. This year, we are committed to focusing on measures to respect diversity and education to build professional careers.