Photo/Illutration A Japanese woman looks at the London cityscape from an observation deck that is free for admission. (Provided by a Japanese woman)

LONDON—A Japanese woman who moved to London in January this year on a working holiday visa is spending most of her free time staring at her smartphone screen instead of the sights. 

It's not Facebook that she's hooked on but the fluctuating yen-pound exchange rate. 

“It’s like social media. I’m checking it all the time,” said the woman, 27, who is from Fukuoka Prefecture. 

On April 27, the pound temporarily reached 200 yen ($1.27), the Japanese currency's lowest level since September 2008, when the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered a global financial crisis. 

“It’s really tough,” she said.

The inflation rate in Britain was 9.1 percent in 2022 and 7.3 percent in 2023.

The woman said she expected the high prices and high rent in the British capital before moving here. 

“But I want to grow as a person and as a member of society,” she said about why she moved to London.

She used to frequent a gym and nail salons while she was in Japan. But not in London, she said.

She is a freelancer in London, working in the management business. Her main clients are from Japan who want to connect with clients in Europe.

She gets paid in yen and her monthly take-home pay is about 500,000 yen.

When she moved to London, the 500,000 yen was equivalent to about 2,800 pounds. But now, it is only worth about 2,500 pounds.

She rents the third floor of a house and the monthly rent is 1,500 pounds, which is a 30,000 yen increase from three months ago when she moved in.

She said she sighs every time she pays her rent. 

Another high expense is a ride on the Tube underground train system in central London, which costs at least 2.7 pounds.

“I’m walking a lot now,” she said. “I want to keep my spending as low as possible.”

She said she did not pay attention to price tags at supermarkets when she was in Japan. But now, when she goes to a grocery store, she said she checks the prices in detail.

The savings in her Japanese yen account are bottoming out.

“I feel helpless,” she said.

Every time she looks at the exchange rate, she realizes that her desire to return to Japan is gradually increasing.

“Maybe I underestimated the costs of living abroad,” she said.

But she still cannot give up her desire to somehow hold on for at least two years living overseas. 

Now, she is seriously thinking about working at a restaurant to earn pounds in addition to her freelance work, which would allow her to save on food costs by eating meals provided by the restaurant.

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