The astrology of Japan and its currency November 2023

The death of a leader ( albeit not a political one- though he had forged strong links with the government) is not surprising, given that the New Moon opposite Uranus is square the Japan natal Sun. Especially with the transiting Ascendant trine the Sun at the moment of the new moon. That the emphasis is a spiritual leader may be indicated by the conjunction Neptune with the natal Mars, ( and square progressed Mercury) although this will also indicate the weak trading results. Saturn is also conjunct Mercury, further confirming this as well as other communication or data challenges for the country. The progressed Moon conjoining the progressed Pluto suggests mourning.

Because of the economic situation, the government are facing some challenges at the moment and a change of political leadership cannot be ruled out in the months ahead, especially when Jupiter and Uranus conjoin in April.

We can also see that Pluto will, in early 2024 return to the Japan Midheaven at 0 Aquarius. This suggests the economic difficulties may get worse before they get better. Seismic activity that is significant enough to make the news cannot be ruled out then either.

Other than that the most noticeable aspect going forward is the square of Neptune with the natal Moon. This suggests a real lack of direction for the people and certainly no quick pick up in th economic conditions. However I feel that the fact that Pluto is tine the country’s Pluto Neptune natal conjunction may indicate that in the background there is much transformation that will bear fruit in the longer term.

Next, we turn to the Yen. It has not had the best of times in the last couple of years. Though some of this is down to the (unbelievable) strength of the dollar. Indeed it has lost half its value between 2021 and 2023.

Here is some of what I predicted in 2020 for 2022 and below is the outcome:

May to August sees some dramatic shifts. Huge flows of money are the order of the day now. Investors are turned upside down by changes. No one has a sense of what true values are  ….. Trading is all over the place especially around May though things calm down a bit in later months.

September to December is equally interesting. Generally long term influences are good now and there is less uncertainty about values so things are more solid. … Although things continue to be dramatic I feel that the currency has support and the environment not as unstable as May time.

2023 Looks like being a year when the currency may struggle of course this doesn’t mean it can’t increase in value at all…



Not a bad assessment I think. Here is what I said for this period.

September to December [2023] sees difficult conflict between investors and financial policy. We see a long term shift in rates – maybe suddenly at first. We are now looking at long term structural issues within the economy- debt and rates, values and investment. There is some irrational belief that things will get better quickly but this is unlikely to be the case. Another difficult period when investors have to adjust their expectations downwards.

But the point of this blog is to educate and inform rather than just predict, so we need to see what is creating this environment.

Over the last couple of years Uranus has been transiting the Yen Pluto and Sun, creating the conditions for major shifts in monetary values. This was aided and abetted by transiting Pluto itself opposing the Yen progressed Jupiter not to mention the current conjunction of the progressed Ascendant and Saturn.

The progressed Ascendant remains conjunct Saturn well into 2024 so we are not looking at a miracle yet. And Uranus will station on the Sun Pluto conjunction in January 2024 and that is not positive.

However that marks the end of Uranus’s transit over this conjunction so things will start to shift in 2024. Indeed the fact that the Uranus Jupiter conjunction of April 2024 is sextile the Yen, suggests a bit of a turnaround if other factors support it. By October Uranus is conjunct the Yen Midheaven ( and mercury and trine Venus and almost Sextile Jupiter). There is a small fly in the ointment as the conjunction is quincunx the Yen Neptune but I suspect this is more a reflection of investor confusion than suppressed values in this case. Honestly I would rather hold Yen than most other assets at that time. Especially in May when transiting Jupiter reaches the Midheaven sextile progressed Jupiter What is going to happen to the dollar I wonder?

Pluto on the other hand is going to move back into Aquarius where it will conjoin the Yen Moon an oppose the natal Uranus again. This is less positive so combined with the above scenario I would expect some major dramatic shifts in both directions before a stable value is identified.

We should also be aware of the moderating influences on this aspect. Progressed Mercury will be trine the transiting Pluto all year and Neptune is now close enough in sextile to Pluto to muddy the waters.

So, no consistent trend then and be aware that shocks may result in moves in any direction but all in all, 2024 looks to be a fun year for the Yen. I love currencies.