S$1 to 117.8 yen: S'pore dollar hits 12-month high against Japanese yen

Planning a trip to Japan? This is a favourable time to exchange your Singapore dollars.

The Singapore dollar reached a new 12-month high against the Japanese yen of S$1 to 117.78 yen on Oct. 8, according to Google Finance:

Declined fast since start of October 2025

At the time of writing, the Japanese yen currently sits at 117.81 yen to S$1.

The Singapore dollar's gains track the yen's swift decline since October 2025 began.

The yen approached its previous peak of around 118 in June 2024 against the Singapore dollar.

Weakening yen after new PM elected

According to Reuters, the yen weakened sharply following Sanae Takaichi's leadership win in Japan on Oct. 4.

Poised to become Japan's first female prime minister, she has promised to stimulate the Japanese economy through aggressive spending.

She also criticised the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) recent interest rate hikes.

"There's going to be a period of time where (investors) try and figure out how exactly her policies will affect the currency," Lou Brien, strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago said.

As a result, money market traders now see only a 26 per cent probability of a BOJ rate increase at its upcoming policy meeting on Oct. 30, down from roughly 60 per cent before Takaichi's victory.

Top photo via Unsplash