For decades in Japan, it was accepted as gospel: A weak currency makes companies more competitive and bolsters the economy.

数十年来，这句话在日本被奉为圭臬：疲软的货币使企业更具竞争力，并促进经济的发展。

Part of that promise came true last year: As the yen tumbled to a 37-year low against the dollar, big brands like Toyota Motor reported the highest profits in Japanese history. Stocks soared to record highs.

这个预期在去年部分得到了应验：随着日元对美元汇率跌至37年来的最低点，丰田汽车等大品牌录得日本历史上的最高利润。股市也飙升至历史新高。

Yet for the majority of Japanese households, the weakened yen has done little more than drive up the costs of basic living expenses, such as food and electricity. Figures released Monday showed that while Japan’s economy picked up pace in the second half of 2024, its inflation-adjusted growth rate for the full year slowed to 0.1 percent. That was down from 1.5 percent the prior year.

然而，对于大多数日本家庭来说，日元贬值除了推高食品和电力等基本生活费用外，几乎没有带来任何好处。周一公布的数据显示，尽管日本经济在2024年下半年的增长有所加速，但全年经通胀调整后的增长率却放缓至0.1%，低于上年1.5%的增幅。

Attempting to stimulate exports by weakening a currency has long been a policy tool for countries seeking economic growth: President Trump has said he wants a weaker dollar to help American manufacturing. Japan provides an example of what can happen when a depreciated currency, even if it helps exports, crushes consumer purchasing power by worsening inflation.

长期以来，通过货币贬值来刺激出口一直是各国寻求经济增长的政策工具：特朗普总统曾表示，他希望美元走弱来帮助美国制造业。日本提供了一个例子，说明货币贬值即使有助于出口，也会因通胀加剧而削弱消费者的购买力。

“In economics, they teach us that everything has a benefit and a cost, and it’s about asking which is greater,” said Richard Katz, an economist who focuses on Japan. Of the yen trading at around 153 to the dollar, “this is clearly not the way to run a railroad,” Mr. Katz said. “It would be good to take a lesson from this.”

“经济学教导我们，一切都是有收益和成本的，关键是要看哪个更大，”专注于日本问题的经济学家理查德·卡茨说。在日元对美元的汇率约为153：1的时候，“这显然不是一个合理的经济运行方式”，卡茨说。“我们应该从中得到一些教训。”

The figures released on Monday show that household spending shrank slightly in 2024, after expanding in the previous three years. Unlike in the United States, where strong consumption helped the economy surge back after the Covid-19 pandemic, prolonged weak spending in Japan has left its real gross domestic product barely above prepandemic levels.

周一公布的数据显示，在连续三年增长后，家庭支出在2024年略有减少。与美国的强劲消费帮助经济在疫情后出现反弹不同，日本长期疲软的支出使其实际国内生产总值仅略高于疫情前的水平。

With tariffs that Mr. Trump has vowed to impose widely on American trading partners, including Japan, expected to further strengthen the dollar against the yen, growing public dissatisfaction with inflation is putting pressure on Japanese lawmakers — who face upper house elections in July — to find a way to reverse the yen’s slide.

特朗普放话要对包括日本在内的美国贸易伙伴广泛征收关税，预计此举将进一步巩固美元对日元的强势，公众对通货膨胀日益增长的不满正在给日本的立法者带来压力——他们将在7月面临参议院选举——要求他们找到扭转日元下跌的方法。

对于大多数日本家庭来说，日元贬值推高了食品和电力等基本生活费用。

In the past, Japan welcomed a weak yen in large part because its economy was highly dependent on exports. But over the past two decades, Japanese companies have delegated more of their production and sales to subsidiaries outside of the country.

过去，日本之所以欢迎日元贬值，很大程度上是因为其经济高度依赖出口。但在过去二十年里，日本企业已将其更多的生产和销售转移到海外子公司。

Over the same span, Japan became more dependent on imports, including fuels like coal and gas used to produce electricity. Since Japan shut most of its nuclear plants following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, imports have accounted for around 90 percent of its total energy supply. It also spends more on imported agricultural products than it produces domestically.

在同一时期，日本变得更加依赖进口，包括用于发电的煤炭和天然气等燃料。自2011年福岛核事故后，日本关闭了大部分核电站，进口能源占其能源总供应量的约九成。此外，日本在进口农产品上的支出也超过了国内生产。

A weaker currency can help stimulate an economy if companies use the money they make from exports to increase hiring and salaries, and invest in their domestic capacity, Mr. Katz said. “In Japan, we’re seeing none of that trickledown,” he said. “On the contrary, consumers are just being squeezed by the higher import costs.”

卡茨说，如果企业利用出口赚来的钱来增加招聘和工资，并投资于国内产能，那么疲软的货币就能帮助刺激经济。“在日本，我们没有看到这种涓滴效应，”他说。“相反，消费者只是受到更高进口成本的挤压。”

Inflation has meant people like Masumi Inoue, a single mother working at a securities firm in Tokyo, have to pay more for the basics. She feels burdened by the cost of everything from bread and vegetables to the rice she uses for her 5-year-old daughter’s school lunches.

对于井上真纯（音）这样的人来说，通胀意味着基本生活开支越来越大，她是一名在东京某证券公司工作的单身母亲。从面包、蔬菜到为五岁的女儿做便当用的大米，所有东西都让她觉得很贵。

Ms. Inoue has begun trying to cut back. She recently stopped going out to lunch and has started sending her daughter to Lion Heart, a nonprofit organization in the outskirts of eastern Tokyo that provides free after-school dinners and tutoring. “Getting meals a couple times a week helps,” Ms. Inoue said. Rising costs “have been very tough on our family finances.”

井上女士已经开始尝试减少开支。她最近不再外出吃午饭，并开始将女儿送到Lion Heart，一个位于东京东郊的非营利组织，在孩子们放学后提供免费的晚餐和课业辅导。“每周能有几次免费的晚餐很有帮助，”井上真纯说，不断上涨的生活成本“对我们家的经济压力好大”。

Many others in Japan appear to share Ms. Inoue’s sentiments. In a December survey, 60 percent of households said their economic situation was worse than a year earlier, compared to just 4 percent who said conditions had improved. Consumer confidence levels are far below where they were before the pandemic.

日本的许多人似乎都与井上女士有同样的看法。在去年12月的一项民调中，60%的家庭表示他们的经济状况比一年前糟，而只有4%的家庭表示情况有所改善。消费者信心水平远低于疫情前的水平。

Growing public dissatisfaction with inflation is putting pressure on Japanese officials to find a way to reverse the yen’s slide. Last year, Japan spent tens of billions of dollars intervening in the foreign exchange market to prop up the yen. But the currency is still weak and spending still feeble, prompting fresh debate about what actions the country’s central bank should take.

民众对通货膨胀的不满情绪不断上升，这给日本官员带来了压力，要求他们找到办法来扭转日元的下跌趋势。去年，日本花费了数百亿美元干预外汇市场以支撑日元。但日元仍然疲软，消费依然乏力，这引发了关于日本央行应采取何种行动的新争论。

The yen’s slide over the past three years was spurred in large part by the Bank of Japan’s longtime policy of keeping interest rates at or below zero. Its goal was to encourage inflation after decades of stagnant prices, but Japan’s low rates also led investors to seek higher returns elsewhere, weakening the yen.

日元在过去三年的下跌在很大程度上是受日本央行长期将利率维持在零或零以下的政策所刺激。央行这么做的目的是，在经历了几十年的物价停滞之后，要鼓励通货膨胀，但日本的低利率也导致投资者在其他地方寻求更高的回报，从而削弱了日元。

Over the past year, the Japanese central bank has been deliberate in raising rates, and consequently causing the yen to strengthen. Consumers could absorb the hit from inflation driven by a weak yen because companies — earning more from the exchange rate — were offering higher wages, the central bank reasoned.

过去一年中，日本央行一直在谨慎地提高利率，从而使日元走强。日本央行认为，消费者可以承受由日元疲软推动的通货膨胀带来的冲击，因为企业——从汇率中获得更多收益——提供了更高的工资。

如果出口带来的利润能够推动就业增加、工资增长和国内投资，那么货币疲软就可以提振经济。

However, with wage gains having failed to keep pace with inflation for much of the past three years, some economists argue that the Bank of Japan should pivot away from placing its main focus on overcoming deflation. Instead, they say, it should focus directly on encouraging domestic consumption — more aggressively raising interest rates, strengthening the yen and bringing down import prices.

然而，在过去三年的大部分时间里，工资涨幅未能跟上通货膨胀的步伐，因此一些经济学家认为，日本央行不应把主要精力放在克服通货紧缩上。他们认为，日本央行应直接把重点放在鼓励国内消费上，即更积极地提高利率，使日元走强，并降低进口价格。

In July, the Bank of Japan hit markets with a surprise rate increase that caused the yen to rapidly appreciate. The move caused a massive sell-off in the stocks of companies that were benefiting from the weakened yen. After facing strong criticism, the Bank of Japan has since proceeded cautiously. Last month, it widely broadcast its plans before raising rates again.

去年7月，日本央行出人意料地加息，导致日元迅速升值。此举导致受益于日元贬值的公司的股票被大规模抛售。在遭到强烈批评之后，日本央行此后一直谨慎行事。上个月，它在再次加息之前进行了广泛宣传。

Sayuri Shirai, a professor of economics at Keio University, said the backlash to the bank’s July rate move sent the wrong message at a crucial moment. “The B.O.J. was actually very successful in terms of appreciating the yen,” she said. “Ultimately what is really the priority, stock prices or stopping the yen’s depreciation? I think at this point, it’s obvious.”

庆应义塾大学经济学教授白井早由里表示，市场对日本央行7月加息举措的反弹在关键时刻释放了错误的信息。“日本央行实际上在日元升值方面做得非常成功。”她说，“归根结底，什么才是真正的优先事项，是股价还是阻止日元贬值？我认为在当前情况下，答案显而易见。”