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Japanese currency (Yen, JPY) in forex

Fact 1 - The yen (¥) is the currency of Japan and there are 4 types of Notes and 6 different coins in circulation:1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000. yen notes; and 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen coins. Cash is the most common form of payment in Japan, however credit cards are widely accepted at many locations. Travelers' checks in yen or US dollars are easily exchanged for cash at the banks, but are not readily accepted at small shops and restaurants. You can exchange yen at foreign exchange banks, international airports and other authorized money exchangers. At the airports, currency exchange counters are usually open during normal office hours.

Fact 2 - In 2006, the Japanese Yen was one of the currency market’s biggest losers. However if you have only been watching the value of USDJPY, which ended the year less than a percent away from where it started trading in January, you may have not realized that. Instead, the Yen lost most of its value against the Euro and British pound , with the currency falling 10 percent against the former and 12 percent against the latter.

In fact, the depreciation was so significant that it drove EUR/JPY to an all-time high and GBP/JPY to an 8 year high. The massive divergence between the Yen’s performance against the dollar and the other major currencies stemmed from the uncertainty surrounding the US economy throughout the past year. However the Yen’s performance against the other majors provides a far more accurate reflection of how the market feels about the currency pair. With the Bank of Japan standing pat after their one interest rate hike in July, traders soon realized that interest rates would continue to remain low throughout the year, making carry trades against the high yielding non-US dollar pairs still a viable investment. As we look ahead to 2007, we will begin to see the Japanese economy reap the benefits of a weak Yen, which should pave the way for another rate hike by the Bank of Japan, and also increase the risk of carry trade unwinding and reserve diversification.

Fact 3 - The yen (円, en?) or en is the currency of Japan. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the United States dollar, the euro and the pound sterling. The ISO 4217 codes for the yen are JPY and 392. The Latinised symbol is ¥ while in Japanese it is also written with the kanji 円. While not a usage specific to currency, large quantities of yen are often counted in multiples of 10,000 (man, 万) in the same way as values in the United States are often quoted or rounded off to hundreds or thousands. Coins were introduced in 1870. There were silver 5, 10, 20 and 50 sen and 1 yen, and gold 2, 5, 10 and 20 yen. Gold 1 yen were introduced in 1871, followed by copper 1 rin, ½, 1 and 2 sen in 1873. The issuance of the yen banknotes began in 1872, two years after the currency was introduced. Throughout its history, the denominations have ranged from 10 sen to 10,000 yen.

Before and during World War II, various bodies issued banknotes in yen, such as the Ministry of Finance and the Imperial Japanese National Bank. The Allied forces also issued some notes shortly after the war. Since then, the Bank of Japan has been the exclusive note issuing authority. The bank has issued five series after World War II. Series E, the current series, consists of ¥1000, ¥5000, and ¥10,000.