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English/Nat The US dollar has soared to a new 15-month high against the Japanese yen, providing a welcome boost to the Japanese economy. The rise in the dollar on Tokyo markets followed Japanese central bank support of the greenback to help boost profits of Japan's manufacturing and export-orientated industries. Japanese exporters have been smiling this week with the U-S dollar rising above 100 Yen. The comparatively stronger dollar means Japanese exports are cheaper in the U-S - so Americans buy more Japanese products. This means higher profits for Japanese exporters and a boost to Japan's trade surplus. The dollar's recent strength is a result of coordinated intervention by the U-S Federal Reserve and central banks in Japan and Europe. SOUNDBITE: "Certainly for the last two days we have seen very nice gains in the dollar with a lot of central bank intervention. But also the market's expectations that the dollar has more to go, more to rise and also the Yen has more to fall." SUPER CAPTION: Mineko Sasaki-Smith, Senior Economist, Morgan Stanley Washington had favoured a stronger yen over the past few years as a way to reduce Japan's trade surplus with the United States. It soared to a massive 66 (b) billion dollars last year. But U-S officials have changed course over the last few months, concerned that an overly weak dollar would have negative effects on both the U-S and Japanese economies. Many believe there is room for the dollar to make further gains. SOUNDBITE: "110-120-130, I think some people might suggest that, but that's probably expecting too much. Nobody really wants a massive correction in the currency in just a very limited period. Orderly correction, I think, is what all central banks are hoping to have." SUPER CAPTION: Mineko Sasaki-Smith, Senior Economist, Morgan Stanley On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, share prices gained over the week on the back of a strengthening dollar. Precision instrument makers, car manufacturers and electronics companies were the big winners and - if the dollar remains comparatively high - they can expect to keep drawing bigger profits. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/31ffa03b22d6803f363895be22d9f162 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork