The new governor of the BoJ, Kazuo Ueda, has not made drastic changes in monetary policy as expected, causing the Japanese yen to weaken against the USD in 2023. Positive signs appeared in November when the USD/JPY pair fell and bond yields also fell, raising hopes that the BoJ was about to change policy. The BoJ is expected to make an important policy decision next spring, based on the results of salary negotiations. If the BoJ does not change policy as expected, the yen could continue to struggle in the first half of 2024. Although the BoJ may change policy later, this uncertainty will cause the yen to fluctuate widely in the first half of next year. In short, the prospects of the Japanese yen next year depend largely on the BoJ's decision after the salary negotiations. The lack of certainty could create major volatility in the Japanese currency market.