Yen is the currency used in Japan, pronounced 'en'. (ISO 4217): JPY, 392; Latinised: ¥; locally as (円).
It was introduced by the Meiji government (Meiji 4) as a system resembling those of Europe to replace the overly complex system of the Edo Period[?]. The New Currency Act of 1871 stipulated the adoption of the decimal accounting system of yen (1, 圓), sen (1/100, 錢), and rin (1/1000, 厘) with the coins being round and cast as in the West. The Act also moved Japan onto the Gold Standard. The yen was pegged at 1 US dollar = 360 yen from April 25, 1949 to 1971. In 1990, the yen was at 160 yen/dollar and in 1995 80 yen/dollar.
The yen was originally written as the same way as the Chinese Yuan (圓 pinyin yuan2), modern writings use a different character (円) instead.
The sen and the rin were taken out of circulation in 1954.
There are at present (late June 2003) about 118 yen to the U.S. Dollar.
