The live dollar-to-yen rate, updated every minute. Book USD→JPY with SummitFX on WhatsApp — same-day yen settlement when you transact during the European morning.
Use the tabs to view the last week, month, year, or five years of daily closing rates. The shaded band shows the high-low range for the period — a quick visual read on volatility.
Type in either box — enter a USD amount to see what you'd get in JPY, or enter a target JPY amount to see how many dollars you'd need. Calculated at the live mid-market rate shown above.
Note: The rate shown is the live mid-market rate. Your actual executable rate includes a small spread — typically 0.3–0.6% at SummitFX vs 2–4% at a UK high street bank. We'll always show the full breakdown before you book.
USD/JPY is the world's second-most-traded currency pair after EUR/USD, accounting for around 13% of global FX volume. It's the prototypical carry-trade pair — borrow yen at near-zero rates, invest in higher-yielding US assets — and one of the most-watched real-time indicators of global risk sentiment. The pair moves on the relative paths of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (which has historically run the world's loosest monetary policy), US Treasury yields, and major risk-on or risk-off shifts. Japan's Ministry of Finance intervention threat is a recurring driver when the yen reaches historically extreme levels.
Federal Reserve policy: The Fed sets US interest rates and is the single most influential central bank in global FX. Decisions, the quarterly dot plot, and Jerome Powell's press conferences are the biggest scheduled USD events. The Fed-BoJ policy gap is structurally wide given Japan's ultra-loose history, and shifts in the gap drive USD/JPY meaningfully.
US Treasury yields: The 10-year Treasury is the cleanest real-time gauge of USD/JPY direction. The pair's correlation with US yields is one of the strongest in FX — when 10-year Treasury yields rise, USD/JPY typically rises too, often almost tick-for-tick on policy days.
US CPI and PCE: US inflation data drives Fed expectations. Monthly CPI prints are among the biggest scheduled USD/JPY events. PCE matters more for the actual policy path; CPI matters more for immediate market reactions.
Non-farm payrolls: The first-Friday US jobs report is arguably the biggest scheduled FX event globally. Strong payrolls support USD against JPY through Fed expectations and yield moves; weakness undermines the pair.
Risk sentiment: USD/JPY behaves as a global risk gauge. In risk-on phases, capital flows out of JPY (low yield, safe haven) into USD (higher yield, risk asset for non-US investors) — pushing the pair higher. In stress episodes JPY safe-haven flows dominate, dragging USD/JPY sharply lower.
Bank of Japan policy: The BoJ has historically run the world's loosest monetary policy — yield curve control, negative rates, massive bond and ETF buying. Slow normalisation under Governor Kazuo Ueda is now under way. Every BoJ meeting is closely watched for hints of further policy shifts. Decisions and the post-meeting press conference are the biggest scheduled JPY events.
Japanese inflation: Japan emerged from chronic deflation only recently. Sustained inflation above 2% justifies BoJ normalisation; soft prints push expectations the other way. CPI moves the yen disproportionately compared to other major economies because it's such a meaningful policy signal.
MoF intervention threat: Japan's Ministry of Finance has a long history of FX intervention to manage yen weakness. Verbal warnings ('excessive moves', 'speculative behaviour') often precede actual intervention. Intervention risk premia get priced into the yen when USD/JPY reaches historically extreme levels — typically above 150-160 in recent cycles.
Safe-haven repatriation: Japanese institutional investors (life insurers, pension funds, the GPIF) hold trillions in foreign assets. In stress episodes they repatriate capital home, generating massive JPY buying. This is why JPY strengthens sharply in 'risk-off' even though Japan often has the lowest yields.
Fiscal year-end flows (March): Japanese companies and institutions rebalance around the 31 March fiscal year-end. Repatriation flows in February-March often strengthen JPY; April typically sees JPY weakness as new fiscal-year outbound flows resume. This is a predictable seasonal pattern in USD/JPY.
The US and Japan are major bilateral trade and investment partners. Bilateral trade in goods and services exceeds $300 billion annually. Japan is one of the largest foreign holders of US Treasuries (over $1 trillion at times) and a major holder of US equities through institutional channels. Japanese multinationals (Toyota, Honda, Sony, SoftBank) maintain substantial US operations, and US technology and consumer goods firms have large Japanese subsidiaries. The corridor carries enormous institutional flow in both directions, generating the deep liquidity that makes USD/JPY one of the world's tightest-spread pairs.
Japan is 14 hours ahead of New York and 8-9 hours ahead of the UK. To get same-day yen delivery, the conversion needs to happen during the European morning so the Japanese banking day is still active. By UK afternoon, Japanese banking is already winding down for the day.
Three things most commonly cause USD→JPY transfers to slip past same-day:
Late USD arrival. Our cutoff is 12:00 UK time for same-day yen settlement — earlier than EUR or other USD pairs because Japanese banks close in the UK morning. SWIFT USD wires from the US can take hours to arrive in Europe; sending in the US morning (or the previous US business day) gives the best chance of meeting our cutoff.
Japanese intermediary bank routing. SWIFT wires to smaller Japanese banks may route through a Tokyo correspondent (Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC are the typical hubs). This adds processing time. Major Japanese megabanks credit fastest; regional banks and credit unions can be slower.
Japanese public holidays. Japan has more public holidays than most major economies — including Golden Week (late April/early May), Obon (mid-August), Silver Week (September), and the multi-day New Year period in early January. Japanese banks close entirely on these days.
For tight yen deadlines — Japanese property completions, supplier payments, large corporate transfers — book the day before or use forward contracts. Forwards are particularly useful for USD/JPY given the pair's high volatility and intervention risk; locking in advance protects against sharp moves on policy or risk-off events.
USD/JPY is the corridor for US residents and businesses with meaningful yen-denominated obligations, plus anyone with Japanese property, business interests, or family ties. Common use cases:
US buyers purchasing Japanese property — Tokyo apartments, Kyoto traditional homes, Niseko ski properties. Japanese conveyancing is fast (often weeks rather than months) but the high-value nature of these transactions makes locking the rate via a forward contract sensible, especially given USD/JPY's volatility.
US businesses sourcing Japanese cars, electronics, machinery, or specialist manufacturing. Tight spreads on regular high-volume payments protect margin in a corridor where JPY weakness can already affect pricing significantly. Toyota, Honda, Sony US operations and US distributors of Japanese goods all use this corridor.
US software, content licensing, and consumer goods sold into Japanese markets generating JPY revenue that needs USD repatriation. Hollywood studios, US streaming platforms, US gaming companies — all repatriate Japanese revenue regularly.
US students at Japanese universities or on exchange; Japanese students at US universities supported by US-based family. Predictable payment schedules suit forward contracts.
US multinationals with Japanese subsidiaries (typically in technology, finance, retail, consumer goods) repatriating yen earnings or funding Japan operations. Treasury teams often use forwards to hedge predictable EUR/JPY exposure across financial years.
Reverse-flow: Japanese institutional and high-net-worth investors funding US Treasury, equity, or property holdings via JPY-to-USD conversion. While dominated by institutional desks, individual Japanese investors with US property or US-listed stocks also use this corridor.
You can convert dollars to yen through your bank, through a transfer app, or through a broker. USD/JPY is the world's second-most-liquid pair, which means broker spreads stay extremely tight — and the gap between bank and broker pricing shows up immediately on any meaningful trade size.
Everything clients typically ask about sending dollars to yen. Still have questions? Message us on WhatsApp — a real dealer, not a bot, will reply.
We never forecast — but the chart above puts today's rate in context. USD/JPY is the most volatile of the major pairs, often moving on every Fed or BoJ data release plus US yield moves. If the pair is near multi-year highs (yen weak), MoF intervention risk rises; if at multi-year lows (yen strong), risk-off conditions are typically driving the move. Rate alerts let you set a target and wait.
US banks typically mark up USD/JPY by 2–4% for retail customers. SummitFX spreads are 0.3–0.6% depending on size. On a $500,000 transfer that's a saving of $8,500–$18,500 in your favour — material on any meaningful flow.
Book and fund by 12:00 UK time on a business day and yen typically lands in your beneficiary's Japanese account the same Japanese business day. The early UK cutoff exists because Japanese banks close in our morning. Late UK bookings settle T+1 in Japanese terms.
Yes — and it's particularly valuable for this pair given USD/JPY's volatility and MoF intervention risk. A forward contract fixes today's rate for delivery up to 24 months ahead. You pay a deposit (typically 5–10% of the trade) upfront and settle the balance at delivery. Common for property purchases, scheduled supplier payments, and Japanese subsidiary funding.
No hard minimum — we handle trades from $500 to $5m+. Below around $5,000 the spread widens slightly to cover fixed execution costs. For recurring smaller payments to family or for ongoing Japanese supplier flow, market orders or standing arrangements work better than ad-hoc bookings.
The rate shown on Google, XE, or the chart above is the mid-market rate — the midpoint of interbank buy and sell quotes. Nobody gets exactly that rate; providers add a margin. Banks typically 2–4%, Wise 0.3–0.6%, SummitFX 0.3–0.6% — with our clients also getting a named dealer and WhatsApp access.
Possibly, depending on the level. Japan's Ministry of Finance has historically intervened when USD/JPY reaches what officials describe as 'excessive' levels — typically above 150-160 in recent cycles. Intervention can move the pair 3-5% in hours. Verbal warnings from the Vice-Minister of Finance for International Affairs often precede actual intervention. If you're sending USD to yen at historically extreme levels, forward contracts protect against intervention-driven yen rallies.
Your rate is locked the moment you reply CONFIRM on a quote. Even if a Fed surprise or MoF intervention sends USD/JPY 2% in either direction before your USD clears to us, the rate you receive stays exactly as booked. USD/JPY is one of the more volatile major pairs; locking in advance is essential for time-critical Japanese payments.
Message us on WhatsApp and we'll have a live executable rate back in seconds.