Japan uses the yen as its national currency, represented by the symbol ¥.
The yen was introduced by the New Currency Act of 1871 during the Meiji period, when Japan was reorganizing its financial and political institutions. The name is related to a Japanese word meaning “round object,” referring to the shape of coins. Its international currency code is JPY.
The Bank of Japan issues banknotes, while coins are minted by the Japan Mint. Common circulating coins include 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 yen denominations. Banknotes have traditionally shown influential figures from Japanese history, literature, education, and science.
The yen is sometimes confused with China’s yuan or South Korea’s won because all three currencies are used in East Asia and their names appear in discussions of regional trade. The yen is also one of the world’s major reserve and foreign-exchange currencies, and its value fluctuates against other currencies in international markets.