# USD/JPY over 40 years | PIER20 benchmarks How strong is the yen against the US dollar compared with the past four decades? The USD/JPY benchmark tracks the Japanese yen per US dollar exchange rate, monthly from July 1986. A higher reading means a weaker yen and a stronger dollar; a lower reading means a stronger yen. The window begins after the 1985 Plaza Accord repricing so it covers the modern floating era rather than the one-off realignment that preceded it. As of **August 2026**, the latest reading is **158.95 yen per US dollar**. That is up 7.8% over the past year and above its long-run median of 114.45 yen per US dollar. ## Summary statistics (full history) | Series | First | Latest | Min | Max | |---|---|---|---|---| | USD/JPY (monthly avg) | 158.61 | 158.95 | 76.64 | 162.85 | ## Last 24 readings | Date | USD/JPY (monthly avg) | |---|---| | Sep 2024 | 142.95 | | Oct 2024 | 149.89 | | Nov 2024 | 153.71 | | Dec 2024 | 153.81 | | Jan 2025 | 156.48 | | Feb 2025 | 151.57 | | Mar 2025 | 149.06 | | Apr 2025 | 144.13 | | May 2025 | 144.88 | | Jun 2025 | 144.48 | | Jul 2025 | 147.20 | | Aug 2025 | 147.48 | | Sep 2025 | 147.86 | | Oct 2025 | 151.35 | | Nov 2025 | 155.14 | | Dec 2025 | 155.91 | | Jan 2026 | 156.65 | | Feb 2026 | 155.10 | | Mar 2026 | 158.68 | | Apr 2026 | 159.12 | | May 2026 | 158.15 | | Jun 2026 | 160.77 | | Jul 2026 | 162.33 | | Aug 2026 | 158.95 | ## How to read this benchmark **What a high or low reading means.** When the rate climbs, the yen is weakening against the dollar, which makes Japanese exports cheaper for foreign buyers and erodes the purchasing power of yen-held savings. When the rate falls, the yen is strengthening. Sustained yen strength in the 1990s and 2010s came alongside Japanese deflation pressure and exporters losing competitiveness. Each 10-yen move is large by historical standards and tends to draw policy attention. **Why yen per dollar rather than dollar per yen.** The market convention for USD/JPY quotes the yen per dollar (higher number = weaker yen), the opposite direction from most currency pairs. Sticking with the convention makes the chart directly comparable to dealer screens and news headlines, even though it can feel inverted for readers used to dollar-per-foreign-currency quoting. **Limitations.** This is the bilateral nominal rate against a single counterparty (the US dollar), so it captures neither yen moves against other currencies nor relative inflation between Japan and its trading partners. It also excludes the carry-trade and hedging flows that move the actual cross in real time. Treat the chart as context for the yen's value versus the dollar specifically, not investment advice. **How to read the reference lines.** Three overlays are computed from the full series and do not move when you change the range selector. The shaded band marks the full historical range from the 2011 strong-yen low near 77 to the 1986 weak-yen high near 163. The median line sits near 114, the middle of all monthly readings since 1986. The previous-max line marks the highest reading before the most recent 12 months, which is still the 1986 Plaza Accord aftermath peak near 163, meaning the recent yen weakness has approached but not breached the all-time weak reading. ## How this benchmark is used **FX carry trade funding rate.** The yen is the world's classic funding currency for the carry trade, where investors borrow yen at low Japanese rates to invest in higher-yielding currencies. A weakening yen (rising USD/JPY) directly improves carry-trade profitability for dollar-based investors, while a strengthening yen forces unwinds. The chart is the standard reference for sizing and timing that trade. **Ministry of Finance intervention watch.** The Japanese Ministry of Finance has historically intervened to weaken or strengthen the yen at extreme readings, including the 2011 coordinated intervention near 76 and the 2022 intervention around 147. The median and previous-max overlays on this chart are roughly the levels intervention-watchers track as warning thresholds, which is why they are drawn directly on the chart. **Japanese exporter competitiveness.** Equity analysts covering Japanese exporters (autos, electronics, industrials) use the USD/JPY level as a direct input to earnings models: every 1-yen move against the dollar shifts operating profit for companies like Toyota and Sony. The chart is the headline reference for whether the current rate is a tailwind or headwind for the exporter-heavy Nikkei. ## Frequently asked questions **What is the current uSD/JPY over 40 years?** As of August 2026, the latest reading is 158.95 yen per US dollar. That is up 7.8% over the past year and above its long-run median of 114.45 yen per US dollar. **How often is this benchmark updated?** This benchmark is built on monthly data. The page is refreshed when the source publishes new observations; the freshness block below the chart shows the exact data-through date and when PIER20 last fetched the file. **What data sources does this chart use?** The chart is built from USD/JPY (monthly avg), sourced from Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). **What is the highest and lowest USD/JPY has reached in this window?** Across the monthly series, which begins in July 1986, the rate peaked near 162.9 in November 1986, just after the Plaza Accord repricing, and bottomed near 76.6 in October 2011 during the post-financial-crisis yen surge. The latest reading near 162 is approaching the 1986 weak-yen high but has not breached it. **How strong or weak is the yen today compared to history?** The latest reading near 162 sits well above the long-run median near 114, meaning the yen is historically weak against the dollar. It is close to the all-time weak reading of roughly 163 from November 1986, the peak of the Plaza Accord aftermath, but has not exceeded it. **What are the shaded band and the reference lines?** The shaded band marks the full historical range from the 2011 strong-yen low near 77 to the 1986 weak-yen high near 163. The median line near 114 marks the middle of all monthly readings since 1986. The previous-max line marks the highest reading before the most recent 12 months, which is still the 1986 peak. All three are computed from the full series and do not move when you change the range selector. **How is this different from the real effective exchange rate?** This is the bilateral nominal rate: yen per single US dollar, with no adjustment for inflation or other currencies. The real effective exchange rate, tracked separately as the inflation-adjusted trade-weighted yen, weights the yen against all of Japan's major trading partners and adjusts for relative consumer prices. The two can diverge sharply, and indeed the real effective yen is currently at its weakest point in the series while the nominal USD/JPY rate has not quite breached its 1986 peak. ## Methodology - Formula: DEXJPUS daily averaged to monthly, from July 1986 - Frequency: Monthly - Sources: USD/JPY (monthly avg) (DEXJPUS) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DEXJPUS. Data via Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). - Data through: August 2026 - Last refreshed: 11 Aug 2026 ## Related benchmarks - [Inflation-adjusted trade-weighted yen](https://pier20.com/benchmarks/real-effective-yen) Full interactive chart: https://pier20.com/benchmarks/usd-jpy Disclaimer: research software output, not investment advice.