A little birdy told me that it's not just the exchange rate that might cause price increases...
Local prices are going up due to two factors.
#1, steel prices have risen. Adds about 2% to the price of something, so very little and nobody would jack up the price over that.
#2, grinding wheel prices have risen by 40% over the past 5 years. If you've ever spent any time in workshop that makes Japanese blades, the one thing that stands out is that there are grinders and spare wheels EVERYWHERE, and they chew through them at a pretty brisk rate. If you need to place blame, that's where at least some of it lies.
Generally, prices remain fairly stable over here and increases are rare for stuff like this. The makers absorb a lot the yen-by-yen increases until it's just too much, and then there is a price jump and usually all folks in the same game follow suit all at about the same time. If you're really lucky, you get warning of the price hike before it arrives.
Now, I don't know that the two reasons I've written about there explain much or all of the above, but I'd bet a brown note (not what you think, unless you've spent money in Japan) that the two reasons there have at least some part to play in things.
(Likely, the local dealer has been able to cope with the yen/dollar difference, but after the yen price goes up, there's no way to avoid increasing the price in dollars. For reference, the plane maker I use had a price increase last week, one of the chisel makers will be September/October and I expect the rest of them to start increasing prices before the end of the year.)
Stu.