What does USD/JPY measure?

USD/JPY states how many Japanese yen you receive for one US dollar. A rate of 150.00 means one dollar buys 150 yen.

Why does USD/JPY move so much?

The pair is sensitive to the policy gap between the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve, to global risk sentiment (the yen is a classic safe haven), and occasionally to Japanese government FX intervention aimed at slowing yen weakness.

Why is the yen called a "funding currency"?

When Japanese rates are far below US rates, investors can borrow yen cheaply and invest the proceeds in higher-yielding dollar assets — a "carry trade." This ties yen moves to shifts in global risk appetite, not just US-Japan data.

Does the Japanese government intervene in USD/JPY?

Japan's Ministry of Finance has directed intervention through the Bank of Japan during periods of rapid yen weakness. It is not a routine occurrence, but it is a recognized risk factor for this pair.

How do I get USD/JPY via the API?

GET /v1/latest/USD?symbols=JPY returns the indicative rate, source, market_session, and timestamp. The free tier covers it, no credit card required. All rates are indicative, not for settlement.

How many decimal places does USD/JPY use?

USD/JPY is conventionally quoted to two decimal places, reflecting the yen's smaller unit value relative to the dollar.

Is this a live trading rate?

No. It is an indicative mid-market reference rate intended for informational and reference use, not for settlement, invoicing, or regulated trading.

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USD/JPY

Name: USD/JPY exchange rate time series
Creator: exchangerate.dev
License: https://exchangerate.dev/terms

159.72

(US Dollar / Japanese Yen)

-0.32% today

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USD/JPY historical chart

Aug 4Feb 3Jul 31

Live USD/JPY conversion rate

As of 2026-07-31 00:00:00 UTC, USD/JPY (US Dollar / Japanese Yen) is 159.72, reconciled from ECB ref · live spot and refreshed every 1-minute ingest / daily reference fallback. Every observation is point-in-time and labels its source class and timestamp — backtest-safe and reproducible. USD/JPY is available over the REST API and an MCP server on exchangerate.dev, with a free tier to start.

How do I query USD/JPY?

One authenticated GET returns the latest value with its timestamp and source. Swap the language tab for your stack.

$ curl https://api.exchangerate.dev/v1/rate/usd-jpy \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"
# → rate, timestamp, source, derived

✓The response includes source, market_session, and data_updated_at freshness metadata.

Reference

GET/v1/latest/USD?symbols=JPY

Latest USD/JPY indicative spot rate — value, timestamp, source, and market_session.

Rate limit

12 / min (Free) · 500 / min (Pro)

Latency p95

sub-100ms edge hits

Source feed

ECB ref · live spot

Frequency

1-minute ingest / daily reference fallback

Provenance

Reconciled against aggregated market data + public reference rates · parser v2.1

Methodology and revision log are public and versioned.

Read methodology

More in fx

USD/JPY — Understanding the Dollar-Yen Exchange Rate

USD/JPY is the benchmark pair for gauging global carry-trade positioning — sharp unwinds in risk sentiment often show up here first, before spreading to other yen crosses.

USD/JPY is one of the world's most heavily traded currency pairs, expressing how many Japanese yen one US dollar buys. It sits at the center of the global carry trade because of the wide policy gap between the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve — for much of the past cycle the BoJ held rates far below the Fed's, making the yen a popular funding currency for investors borrowing cheap yen to buy higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

The yen also has a long history as a safe-haven currency: in episodes of global risk aversion, capital often flows back into yen-denominated assets, which can strengthen the currency sharply and unwind carry trades quickly. That dual identity — funding currency in calm markets, safe haven in stress — makes USD/JPY prone to sudden, large moves.

Japan's Ministry of Finance, working through the Bank of Japan, has directed FX intervention in the past specifically to slow sharp yen depreciation, so large or fast moves in USD/JPY sometimes carry intervention risk that traders watch closely. A rate near 150 means one dollar buys roughly 150 yen; the pair is typically quoted to two decimal places.

This page shows an indicative mid-market rate sourced from aggregated market data and public reference rates (ECB/FRED). It can update intraday through the trading week; every response carries source and market_session so you know whether a given quote was live or a daily fix. Rates are indicative, not for settlement or regulated trading.

Frequently asked questions

What does USD/JPY measure?: USD/JPY states how many Japanese yen you receive for one US dollar. A rate of 150.00 means one dollar buys 150 yen.
Why does USD/JPY move so much?: The pair is sensitive to the policy gap between the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve, to global risk sentiment (the yen is a classic safe haven), and occasionally to Japanese government FX intervention aimed at slowing yen weakness.
Why is the yen called a "funding currency"?: When Japanese rates are far below US rates, investors can borrow yen cheaply and invest the proceeds in higher-yielding dollar assets — a "carry trade." This ties yen moves to shifts in global risk appetite, not just US-Japan data.
Does the Japanese government intervene in USD/JPY?: Japan's Ministry of Finance has directed intervention through the Bank of Japan during periods of rapid yen weakness. It is not a routine occurrence, but it is a recognized risk factor for this pair.
How do I get USD/JPY via the API?: GET /v1/latest/USD?symbols=JPY returns the indicative rate, source, market_session, and timestamp. The free tier covers it, no credit card required. All rates are indicative, not for settlement.
How many decimal places does USD/JPY use?: USD/JPY is conventionally quoted to two decimal places, reflecting the yen's smaller unit value relative to the dollar.
Is this a live trading rate?: No. It is an indicative mid-market reference rate intended for informational and reference use, not for settlement, invoicing, or regulated trading.