look up the plaza accord. It led to a bubble that eventually burst and an uncompetitive export industry as the JPY doubled.

Two sides of the same coin. The yen appreciation didn't change the trade deficit the US had with Japan substantially. Japan's own actions after the plaza accord (very loose monetary policy) lead to the asset bubble I described. That's because domestic consumption was weak and everyone used excess savings for the housing market - rather than buying more goods domestically. Which lead to the bubble I described.