Japanese yen

The story

The New Currency Act of 1871 introduced decimal yen in place of ryo-based reckoning. The transition in actual books took time: Mitsui’s Kyoto accounts adopted yen reckoning fully during March and April 1873. A legal reform and the conversion of everyday accounts need not have happened on the same day. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

The Bank of Japan first issued notes in May 1885, well after the yen’s introduction. A new issuer did not mean a new currency. The 1897 gold standard defined the yen as 0.75 grams of gold. ^{[5] [3]}

Japan fixed its postwar exchange rate at 360 yen per US dollar in April 1949. The Smithsonian agreement changed the parity to 308 yen in December 1971, and flexible exchange rates followed in 1973. The yen remained the account unit through each change. ^{[6] [7] [8]}