Yen is the currency used in Japan, pronounced 'en'. (ISO 4217): JPY, 392; Latinised: ¥; locally as (円).
It was introduced by the Meiji government (Meiji 4) as a system resembling those of Europe to replace the overly complex system of the Edo Period. The New Currency Act of 1871 stipulated the adoption of the decimal accounting system of yen (1, 圓), sen (1/100, 錢), and rin (1/1000, 厘) with the coins being round and cast as in the West. The Act also moved Japan onto the Gold Standard. The yen was pegged at 1 US dollar = 360 yen from April 25, 1949, to 1971. As of July 2003 there were about 119 yen to the U.S. Dollar. After the Paza Accord of 1985, the yen depreciated against the dollar.
The yen was originally written as the same way as the Chinese Yuan (圓 pinyin yuan2), modern writings use a different character (円) instead.
The sen and the rin were taken out of circulation in 1954.
The table below shows the number of Yen per U.S. Dollar (rounded to the nearest Yen).
Exchange rates over time
| Year(s) | Month | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 1949 to 1971 | 360 | |||||||||||
| 1985 | 216 | |||||||||||
| 1986 | 154 | |||||||||||
| 1987 | 147 | |||||||||||
| 1988 | 132 | |||||||||||
| 1989 | 140 | |||||||||||
| 1990 | 137 | |||||||||||
| 1991 | 129 | |||||||||||
| 1992 | 120 | |||||||||||
| 1993 | 106 | |||||||||||
| 1994 | 100 | |||||||||||
| 1995 | 100 | |||||||||||
| 1996 | 112 | |||||||||||
| 2003 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 117 | 110 | 109 | 107 | |||||
The table below shows the number of Yen per Pound Sterling (rounded to the nearest Yen).
| Year(s) | Month | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 2003 | 189 | 194 | 188 | 184 | 183 | 188 | ||||||
A 1,000 yen note, featuring the portrait of Natsume Soseki.
