Since last month, the yen strengthened a bit, but it’s still quite weak (over 155 / USD). Investments jumped up quite a bit, so that helped the bottom line. The biggest expense this month was I booked flights to Europe for later this year for our honeymoon trip. The final itinerary is still TBD, but I’m hoping that it will be enjoyable for us. Hopefully I’ll be able to use miles for intra-Europe flights and hotel stays....

April is US tax month, and I owed a few hundred dollars due to my previously-mentioned slightly-too-large Roth conversion. I also surprisingly received a bonus from my company, which is the first time that’s happened since I’ve worked in Japan. All the more reason to like where I am! This month, the yen fell even further, hitting 160 to the US dollar at one point. I’m pretty sure that the Japanese government did another intervention, as the yen has dropped below 155 this week, but unless Japan raises its interest rates or the US lowers its rates, I don’t see why it won’t continue creeping up over the near term....

So, I’ve managed to survive the worst of the pollen season without too much suffering. The medicine I’ve been taking seem to have helped a bit, but still not 100% symptom-free. Helpfully, the weather forecasts here include detailed predictions of pollen, so on high pollen days it helps to stay inside. Wearing a mask 😷 also helps too. Pollen season is followed closely by sakura season, and I’ve been able to go out and enjoy the cherry blossoms once or twice so far....

Another month of 2024 in the bag. Weather is starting to warm up here, but with that comes cedar pollen, and with that comes my allergies. I’ve been on a sublingual immunotherapy treatment for the past 9 months, but it appears to not be completely effective at preventing my symptoms, at least so far. Until the pollination season passes in about a month or two, I try to avoid going outside too much and need to hang my laundry indoors....

Current exchange rate: 148 (boo) Market movement: up The first month of 2024 is over already, although it still feels like the year has just begun. US tax season is also fast approaching. I’ve done it enough times by now that the whole process only takes me a few hours, although there are a few extra wrinkles this year. Now that I’m married, I can no longer file as Single, but I also can’t file jointly as my wife is not a US citizen or permanent resident and thus, shockingly, has no desire to start declaring and paying US taxes....

Current exchange rate: 141 Market movement: up 2023: over Been quite busy the last few months, and forgot to do my regular posts. Now that the year is winding down, I have some time to catch up. The US trip in September-October was a success: got to see all the family we were going to see, the travel logistics worked out, and jet lag wasn’t too debilitating. Following that, my partner and I officially got married in October, but didn’t take formal wedding photos until this month....

Current exchange rate: 146 Market movement: down US travel: planned! I finally pulled the trigger on this year’s US trip. I wasn’t able to get the absolute lowest flight prices I saw (at one point I saw tickets for under $1,000 RT per person, but I hesitated and prices went up again), but they were good enough to be worth getting. Since my family has mostly dispersed away from California over the last few years, it’s more complicated to plan a visit to see everyone....

Current exchange rate: 143 Market movement: up US travel plans: still undecided Another mostly uneventful month. One event coming up is that I will finally start selling off my I bonds that I purchased in 2021 (already sold a week before I’m writing this) and 2022 (will sell in early January 2024). Because US interest rates have settled down compared to previous years, the interest payments on I bonds has dropped as well....

Late update because there wasn’t too much that happened last month. As before, I’m still waiting on US flight prices to improve for a trip home. I did plan a Beppu trip for August, so have that to look forward to. Not sure about Sapporo though. The Yen is still at about 140, so pretty weak. The market went up a bit, but I honestly haven’t been paying much attention....