Japan’s official currency is the ‘yen’. On the foreign exchange market, it is the third most traded currency, after the dollar of the United States and the Euro. In addition to this, it is often used as a third reserve currency, after the Euro and the United States dollar. It has also been used as Japan’s Olympic coin.
The United States dollar and the euro are the two most often traded currencies globally, while Japan’s currency, the yen, is in third place (EUR). The Japanese yen is the fourth most crucial reserve currency globally, behind the United States dollar, the euro, and the British pound (GBP).
In Japan and Japan’s capital, you can discover banknotes of the following denominations: 1000 yen, 2000 yen, 5000 yen, and 10000 yen, which the nation’s central bank serves. There are six distinct values of a yen coin: one yen, five yen, ten yen, fifty yen, and one hundred yen.
History of Japan’s Currency
During the nineteenth century, Spanish dollars and local currencies were accepted forms of payment in Japan. The mon monetary system that had been in use throughout the Tokugawa era was formally replaced with the Japanese yen in 1871 when the Meiji government passed the New Currency Act. The act was brought forth to maintain economic stability.
The Bank of Japan was founded in 1882 to maintain control over the country’s monetary system. In 1897, Japan switched to using the gold standard. Following the considerable devaluation of the yen after World War II, the Japanese government decided to stabilize the country’s economy by establishing a fixed exchange rate of 360 JPY to 1 USD.
In 1973, the yen was allowed to float against other currencies freely.
Japan Olympics Coins
On different occasions, gold and silver commemorative coins with face values of up to 100,000 yen are struck. In 1964, silver 100 and 1000 Summer Japan Olympic coins commemorate the games. The first two types of the 500-yen coin were minted in 1985 to celebrate the Tsukuba science and technology expo and the Governmental Cabinet’s 100th anniversary. In 2008, the commemorative 500- and 1000-yen coins honoring Japan’s 47 prefectures were introduced, each denomination having 47 distinct designs. The banks in each area only accept one cash per person. A total of 100,000 1000-yen silver coins were made each year. Even though all commemorative coins may be used similarly to Japan Olympic regular coins, they are seldom used and circulated.
Facts about Japan’s Currency
- Round is the definition of the Japanese term yen.
- One gram is the weight of a coin worth one yen (0.035 oz).
- In 2019, it was claimed that particular Japanese yen banknotes would have a new design, and the release date was anticipated to be in the year 2024.
- It is anticipated that the 10,000-yen notes will remain in circulation for between four and five years. As a result of the greater volume of transactions involving them, banknotes of 5,000 and 1,000 yen have a lifetime of one to two years at most.
- In 2000, a brand-new banknote with a denomination of 2,000 was printed to commemorate the Okinawa Summit 957 miles apart from Japan’s capital, Tokyo. Surprisingly, there are hardly any banknotes in circulation at this time. One possible explanation for this is that most vending machines in Japan’s capital are not designed to accept them.
Conclusion
The Japanese yen, sometimes abbreviated as JPY, is the currency used across the nation. It was not used for the first time until 1871. The symbol for the yen is JP¥, which is often used to differentiate it from the Chinese yuan renminbi, which also uses the same sign.