Japanese Yen (JPY) Profile

Currency name
Currency code
Currency symbol

¥  (international) ; 円  (Japan—present day) ;  圓  (Japan—traditional)

Subunit
1/100,  sen ;  1/1000,  rin
Coins freq used
¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, ¥500
Coins rarely used
 
Banknotes freq used
¥1000, ¥5000, ¥10000
Banknotes rarely used
 
Central bank
Bank of Japan (www.boj.or.jp)
Currency users
Currency user list

Japanese yen users

The Japanese yen is the currency of Japan, which is an island nation in East Asia.

The Japanese yen is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and euro. As a reliable and stable store of value, it is also regarded as a hard currency. Currently, hard currencies are the United States dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Swiss franc (CHF), British pound sterling (GBP), Japanese yen (JPY), Canadian dollar (CAD), and Australian dollar (AUD). The Japanese yen is also the fourth reserve currency in the world. The major reserve currencies are the United States dollar, the euro, the British pound sterling, the Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar.

Japanese yen history

The Japanese Yen was introduced in July 1871. The name "yen" has the meaning of "a round object". The currency yen was basically a dollar unit. It was descended from the Mexico peso, or even further ages ago, like all dollars, were origin from the silver Spanish dollar.

The Spanish dollar was created in 1497 in the Spanish Empire. It was a silver coin with approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales. From the height of the Spanish Empire until the early 19th century, the Spanish dollars were widely used in the Americas, Southeast Asia, China coast, and Japan. In the Americas, the first United States dollar coins were issued similar in size and composition to the Spanish dollar. And the peso (Spanish dollar) were still continued to be used alongside even after the U.S. dollar introduction in 1792. The Mexican peso was introduced in 1821 when Mexico gained its independence, continuing the Spanish monetary system and with the peso of 8 reals, the largest silver coin. In Southeast Asia, since the middle-late nineteenth century, the Straits dollar currency was introduced and used among present nations of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. It was initially equivalent to the Spanish dollar or Mexican peso. In Hong Kong, a silver coin was introduced in 1866, descended from the Spanish dollar, with a diameter of 38 mm, a mass of 26.96 grams, and a thickness of 2.80 mm. The dollars were only in circulation for three years. They were ceased minting, and the Hong Kong government sold the mint machinery to Japan. The Japan, Meiji government then adopted a silver dollar coinage with the name of "yen" in 1871 and defined it as 24.26 grams pure silver or 1.5 grams pure gold on a bimetallic standard.

In 1897, Japan adopted a gold exchange standard like all other countries to begin pegging their silver coin units to the gold standards of the United Kingdom or the USA. The Japanese yen was then initially pegged at the U.S. dollar at 1 JPY = 0.5 USD. It was devalued to 1 USD = 360 JPY between 1949 and 1971 and eventually gained a floated exchange rate in 1973. The exchange rate of the Japanese yen and the United States dollar is at 1 USD = 93.4141 JPY as of the date of March 1, 2013.

Japanese yen coins and banknotes

The Japanese yen is subdivided into 100 sen or into 1000 rin, although the smallest circulating denominations are 1 yen coins.

Currently in circulation, coins are 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 yen and banknotes are in denominations of 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 yen.

The first coins were introduced in 1870, and the banknotes in 1872.