Japanese Yen
The Japanese Yen is the official currency of Japan, and is the third most traded currency in foreign exchange markets, after the US dollar and the Euro. The Yen is also one of the currencies used in Zimbabwe since the Zimbabwean Dollar was suspended. The currency was adopted in 1871 by the Japanese Meiji government. Prior to that, Japan used a number of different currencies, including Mexican Pesos and Spanish Dollars.
The name yen comes from the Japanese for 'a round object'. One yen was initially sub-divided into 100 sen and 1,000 rin, but due to inflation the sen and rin essentially became worthless and both were taken out of circulation in 1953. The ISO code for the currency is JPY, and outside of Japan the currency symbol '¥' is used, which is simply the letter 'Y' with two lines through it. In Japan the yen is represented by a Kanji character, and the currency is pronounced without the 'y' sound.
Japanese Yen history
Via trading between Spanish nations and Southeast Asian countries, the Spanish dollar became the usual currency to use to trade for goods based on their perceived monetary value. In the 1840s other silver dollars (including coins minted in Hong Kong) became accepted as legal tender in Japan, but in 1871 the Japanese government decided to mint and adopt a silver dollar based currency of its own, which it named the yen.
Initially, the coins that were minted were 1 rin, 1/2, 1 and 2 sen (all copper), 5, 10, 20, 50 sen and 1 yen (silver) and 2, 5, 10 and 20 yen (gold). Banknotes were issued two years after the currency was introduced, and throughout the yen's history, denominations have ranged from 10 to 10,000 yen. Currently, only 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 yen notes are produced.
Due to the devaluation of the price of silver in 1873, the yen began to tumble in value, and by 1897 one yen was worth half a US dollar. This was nothing as to what happened during the Second World War, when the value of the yen practically collapsed. By 1949 one US dollar was worth 360 yen. Through the efforts of the UK and the US, the value of the yen was stabilised, and by 1995 the success of Japan's economic recovery meant that the country's economy was almost on par with that of the United States, and the value of the yen climbed to 80 yen per US dollar.
Major fluctuations followed over the next two decades as Japanese solidified its position as a forceful global market. In May 2013, one yen was equivalent to one US cent.
Japanese Yen today
Today, one Japanese Yen is worth around £0.006, or $0.009.
One British Pound is worth around ¥175, while one US dollar is worth around ¥110.
Gambling has been illegal in Japan since 1907, although it is thought likely that the ban on casinos in Japan will end sometime in 2015/2016. Online casinos are also banned in Japan, although the country does not prevent players playing at online casinos in other jurisdiction. There are plenty of online casinos that will allow gambling accounts to be funded in Japanese yen, but play at the tables is typically undertaken using US dollars, British pounds or Euros.
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