The ISO 4217 code for Japan’s currency, the yen, is JPY. ISO 4217 is the international standard that assigns three-letter codes to currencies for banking, travel, commerce, and financial data.
The code JPY combines the country identifier “JP,” derived from Japan, with “Y,” the first letter of yen. It is used internationally even though the yen’s familiar symbol is ¥. The Japanese yen is also commonly represented by the kanji 円, which means “round.”
Japan adopted the yen in 1871 under the New Currency Act, replacing a complex feudal monetary system based on mon and various domain-issued coins. The yen was originally linked to a decimal system, making it easier to use for modern commerce. A common mix-up is confusing JPY with informal abbreviations such as YEN or JY; only JPY is the official ISO 4217 code. The yen is issued by the Bank of Japan, while Japanese banknotes are produced by the National Printing Bureau.