What moves the Japanese yen
The Japanese yen is set against the rest by one bank, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), and by the things that bank has to react to. Here is the rate it has set, what it is aiming at, the releases that move this currency and what is on the calendar this week.
Rate and calendar as the research last recorded them, Wed Sep 23, 2026, 3:14pm.
In short
- Central bank
- Bank of Japan (BoJ)
- Policy rate
- 1.25%
- Next meeting
- not published
- What the bank targets
- Price stability: inflation at 2%
The three things that move it
- 1The interest rate gap with the rest of the world. Japan has held the lowest rate of the eight for years, which makes the yen the funding currency of choice.
- 2Risk appetite. When markets get nervous, Japanese money comes home and the yen rises on the flow rather than on any Japanese news.
- 3The Ministry of Finance. Japan has intervened in the currency before and says so openly when it is uncomfortable.
A safe haven that tends to gain when markets turn cautious, and a common funding currency in calm ones.
On the calendar this week
Nothing of the highest impact for the JPY this week. On weeks like that the currency drifts on the rate gap and the risk mood instead.
Times in Amsterdam. The whole week for all eight is on the calendar page.
The other seven
A currency is only strong or weak against another one, so the page next door matters as much as this one.
- USD US dollar
- EUR Euro
- GBP British pound
- CHF Swiss franc
- AUD Australian dollar
- NZD New Zealand dollar
- CAD Canadian dollar
What the rate gap between two of them pays is on the rate differentials page, and how a pair is scored from two currencies is on the fundamental bias page.
Questions about the Japanese yen
What moves the Japanese yen?
What the Bank of Japan (BoJ) does and is expected to do, the releases that bank steers on, the mood of the wider market, and anything political big enough to be priced. A currency only moves against another one, so the same questions apply to the other side of the pair.
Which central bank sets the JPY rate, and what is it aiming at?
The Bank of Japan (BoJ). Its target: price stability: inflation at 2%. A release matters most when it speaks to that target.
Where can I see the current JPY policy rate?
At the top of this page, next to the next scheduled meeting, and next to the other seven on our rate differentials page. It follows the research, so a decision shows up on the day it is made. All eight rates
Do you publish a JPY forecast?
No. We publish a reading of now: how the currency scores against the other seven today and why, rewritten when the news changes. Nobody here will tell you where a currency will be next month. How past calls turned out