Yen Currency Day

What Is Yen Currency Day?

Every March 4th is "Yen Day" (円の日, En no Hi) in Japan. On March 4, 1869 (by the old lunar calendar; April 15 in today's calendar), the Meiji government decided on a system of round gold, silver and copper coins — the beginning of the yen currency system. Two years later, in 1871, the New Currency Act (新貨条例, Shinka Jōrei) made the "yen" (円, en, literally "round/circular") Japan's official monetary unit, replacing the Edo-period system of ryō, bu and shu — which counted in fours — with a decimal system of 1 yen = 100 sen = 1,000 rin.

The Creation of the Modern Yen

The 1871 New Currency Act defined one yen as 1.5 grams of pure gold, following the gold standard of leading Western nations, although silver coins remained widely used in trade. Why the name "yen" ("round")? The Bank of Japan's Currency Museum introduces several theories: coins of various shapes were standardized into an easy-to-carry round form; the Hong Kong silver dollar, marked "one yuan" (壱圓), served as a model; or round Chinese silver coins had already made the word familiar. Because key records were lost in a fire, no one knows for sure.

The Yen's International Journey

From its 1871 establishment as a domestic currency, the yen has become one of the world's major international currencies. Japan's postwar economic miracle transformed the yen from a weak postwar currency (fixed at 360 yen per dollar after WWII) to a globally significant store of value (reaching 75-80 yen per dollar at its 2011-2012 peak). The yen is consistently one of the world's most traded currencies and serves as a major reserve currency held by central banks globally.

Yen in Japanese Culture

The yen is so central to Japanese life that the currency symbol — ¥ — appears throughout Japanese commercial culture and is one of the world's most recognized currency marks. Japan's physical currency — both its colorful paper banknotes (made partly from traditional mitsumata fiber) and its varied coin denominations — is recognized for its quality and design. The 2024 banknote redesign (new designs for 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 yen notes) featured 3D holographic portraits and new historical figures, reflecting Japan's continuing investment in high-quality, counterfeit-resistant currency design.

Fun Facts

• 360-yen era: The fixed exchange rate of 360 yen to the U.S. dollar — established under the postwar Bretton Woods system in 1949 — was the foundation of Japan's export-led growth strategy through the high-growth period. A popular but unconfirmed story links the figure 360 to the 360 degrees of a circle — a nod to the yen's name, meaning "round."
• Largest denomination: Japan's ¥10,000 note is the country's largest denomination — significantly lower in real value than the largest denominations in many comparable economies, reflecting Japan's cash-intensive culture and tradition of relatively small transaction values.