USD/JPY Exchange Rate History: Yen per Dollar Since 1971

The dollar-yen rate is one of the world’s most traded currency pairs and a barometer of the gap between US and Japanese monetary policy. This dataset tracks the Federal Reserve H.10 noon rate, expressed as Japanese yen per US dollar, distributed via FRED under the code DEXJPUS, with daily coverage since 1971. A higher number means a stronger dollar and a weaker yen.

Dataset: USD/JPY Exchange Rate (1971–2026) · Updated 2026-06-05

Source: Federal Reserve Board · H.10 Foreign Exchange Rates (via FRED)

Macro Takeaway

Dataset Overview

Dataset Variables

The CSV and Excel files contain the following columns. Each row represents one business day.

Column names match the CSV headers exactly.

Download the Complete Dataset

The full dataset is available in CSV and Excel formats — daily observations spanning 1971–2026.

FRED Direct CSV Access

The underlying data is published in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database under the series code DEXJPUS, sourced from the Federal Reserve Board’s H.10 release:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.csv?id=DEXJPUS

The Eco3min dataset mirrors the same daily series, packaged in a stable, versionable CSV with consistent column names — designed for direct ingestion in Python, R, or any data pipeline. The URL never changes, making it suitable for automated scripts.

Direct CSV Access — Eco3min Structured Dataset

https://eco3min.fr/dataset/usd-jpy-exchange-rate.csv

This URL returns the complete dataset in CSV format. It can be used directly in pandas, R, curl, or any data tool.

Using the Dataset in Python

import pandas as pd

url = "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/usd-jpy-exchange-rate.csv"
df = pd.read_csv(url, parse_dates=["date"])

print(df.head())
print(df["usd_jpy"].describe())

df.plot(x="date", y="usd_jpy", title="USD/JPY Exchange Rate", legend=False)

Using the Dataset in R

library(readr)

url <- "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/usd-jpy-exchange-rate.csv"
df <- read_csv(url)

head(df)
summary(df$usd_jpy)

Both examples load the dataset directly from the URL — no download or API key required.

Methodology

The Federal Reserve reports the Japanese yen per US dollar noon buying rate in New York, in its H.10 release.

The Federal Reserve publishes these rates daily in its H.10 release. Values are indicative noon or end-of-day rates, not transactable quotes, and there are no observations on weekends or US holidays. The series begins in 1971.

This dataset is updated via an automated pull from the FRED API (series DEXJPUS) by an Eco3min pipeline running on GitHub Actions, which regenerates the cleaned CSV and Excel files and refreshes the page metadata.

Data Quality & Provider Notes

The Federal Reserve H.10 rates are a standard, widely cited reference for bilateral exchange rates. A few provider-specific points matter when using this series.

• Indicative, not transactable. H.10 rates are reference rates collected at a set time of day. They will differ from the bid/ask a trader actually deals on, and from other fixings (ECB, WM/Refinitiv 4pm London).
• Gaps on non-business days. There are no observations on weekends or US public holidays, so the series is not strictly continuous in calendar time.
• Bilateral, not trade-weighted. This is a single currency pair. It is not the broad, trade-weighted dollar index, which aggregates many bilateral rates.
• Discontinued or restated quotes. The Federal Reserve has occasionally changed how a rate is reported; treat very long histories as broadly consistent rather than methodologically identical throughout.

Common Pitfalls When Using This Series

1. Reading the quotation direction backwards. This series is Japanese yen per US dollar, so the number rises when the dollar strengthens (the yen weakens) and falls when the yen strengthens, the opposite of pairs quoted as dollars per unit such as GBP/USD or EUR/USD. Getting the direction wrong inverts every move and every regime described below.
2. Treating gaps as missing data. Weekends and holidays have no H.10 observation; this is by design, not a data error. Resample carefully before computing returns.
3. Confusing a bilateral rate with the dollar’s overall strength. One pair can move on currency-specific news while the broad, trade-weighted dollar barely moves, and vice versa.

Historical Regimes

1971–1985 — End of Bretton Woods. The yen floated from the fixed 360 rate, drifting stronger toward about 240 per dollar by 1985.

1985–1995 — Plaza Accord and endaka. The 1985 Plaza Accord engineered a sharp dollar decline; the yen strengthened to a then-record near 80 per dollar in 1995.

1996–2012 — Range and carry trade. The yen traded broadly 80-145, with the carry trade a recurring feature; it strengthened again in the 2008 crisis. The case is built out in this question on carry trade emerging currencies.

2013–2021 — Abenomics. The Bank of Japan’s massive easing under Abenomics weakened the yen from about 80 back toward 110-125.

2022–2026 — Policy divergence. As the Fed hiked aggressively while the BoJ held rates near zero, the yen fell past 150 to its weakest since the late 1980s, prompting Japanese intervention in 2022 and 2024.

Related Macroeconomic Datasets

Developed Markets (ex-US) Hub

This dataset is part of the Eco3min repository of exchange rates, government bond yields, and policy rates for the major developed economies outside the United States, all sourced from the Federal Reserve and the OECD via FRED.

Explore the Developed Markets (ex-US) Hub

Sources

• Federal Reserve Board — H.10 Foreign Exchange Rates, USD/JPY
• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — FRED database, series DEXJPUS
• Federal Reserve H.10 noon buying rate, New York — basis underlying the FRED series

Dataset Reference

Eco3min Research. (2026). USD/JPY Exchange Rate — Daily (1971-2026). Source: Federal Reserve Board H.10 via FRED.<br> https://eco3min.fr/en/usd-jpy-exchange-rate-history-dataset/