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5.2. Where does the word yen come from?

In Japanese, the name of the currency is en (円) not `yen'. The Japanese language has no `ye' sound (see 1.1.2. Is there a kana symbol for ye or yi?).

In the old (pre-war) writing system (see 1.1.7. What is historical kana usage?) en was written in kana as wen (ゑん) not `yen'. Writing it as `yen' in English originated in Hepburn's dictionary of 1867, in which all words starting e or we were represented with an English ye. Other well-known examples are writing Yedo for Edo (the old name for Tokyo) or Yezo for Ezo, the old name for Hokkaidou.

This romanization survives in the surnames of some Japanese-Americans such as U.S. senator Daniel Inouye.

Acknowledgements

Edited from a post by NAKANO Yasuaki.

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