It’s not difficult to see why: The yen recently hit a four-decade low, trading near 162 to the dollar in early July. Now, as the same currency swing opens Japan up to Hawaiʻi residents, it closes Hawaiʻi off to Japanese. The U.S. dollar was 37.7% stronger against the yen in 2025 than in 2016, rewriting who can afford to cross the Pacific, and in which direction. The irony: the same weak yen keeping Japanese families out of Waikīkī this summer is making Hawaiʻi’s pitch to them cheaper to make. She went on to serve as executive vice chair, then chair of Central Pacific Financial Corp. and Central Pacific Bank from January 2023 to June 2024, guiding the institution through recovery and growth while championing initiatives for local small businesses.