AUDJPY - Is it really a proxy for risk-on?

I've been watching $AUDJPY and the general sentiment around it as the go-to "risk-on" barometer, especially when things get choppy. Everyone's quick to point to it as an indicator of broader market confidence, but I'm starting to wonder if that's just an inherited narrative we've all bought into without much recent critical thought. Yes, it can show sensitivity, but calling it the definitive bellwether for everything seems a bit... lazy. The Aussie's own internal dynamics and specific commodity movements, not to mention JPY's flight-to-safety plays, feel like they're driving more nuanced price action than a simple "risk-on/off" switch.

Looking at today's action, we've seen it hover around 111.576. Is that truly reflecting a global risk appetite change, or are we oversimplifying complex flows? I'd love to hear some pushback on this, maybe I'm missing something fundamental.