Convert JPY to HUF Japanese yen ↔ Hungarian forint Free Online Secure
Type an amount in Japanese yen and read it in Hungarian forint at once. The page uses the European Central Bank's reference rate, and tells you which day that rate is from.
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Common amounts — Convert JPY to HUF (Japanese yen ↔ Hungarian forint)
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The last thirty days
Where these codes and rates come from
The three letters in EUR, USD or JPY are not an abbreviation someone invented for a website: they are ISO 4217, a standard in which the first two letters are the country's own code and the third is usually the initial of the currency. The figures on this page come from the European Central Bank, which publishes one set of reference rates each working day, around 16:00 Central European time, agreed between the central banks of the Eurosystem. They are a daily snapshot meant for statistics and accounting, not a live trading feed — which is exactly why they are the same number for everyone, rather than whatever one bank happened to quote at one moment.
Where you meet an exchange rate
You meet an exchange rate four or five times a year without thinking about it: booking a trip, paying an invoice issued abroad, buying from a foreign shop, reading a salary offer in another currency, or checking what a card charge really cost. In all of these the reference rate is the honest middle, and the price you actually pay sits a little to one side of it. Knowing the middle is what lets you see how wide that margin is.
Questions people ask
Is this the rate my bank will give me?
No, and no page can promise one. This is the European Central Bank's reference rate: the midpoint published once a day for statistics. A bank, a card scheme or an exchange office adds its own margin on top — usually between half a percent and three percent, sometimes more at an airport counter. Use this figure to judge the offer you are given, not to predict it.
How often does the figure change, and what happens at weekends?
The European Central Bank publishes once each working day, in the afternoon, Central European time. There is no publication on Saturdays, Sundays or TARGET holidays, so on those days the page shows the last working day's rate and says which day it belongs to. The chart alongside is one year of the same daily series.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Two Suzukis and a Kodály: three threads between Japan and Hungary, and the forint behind them
Hungarians and Japanese write their names the same way, family name first, an eastern order in a western country that sets Hungary apart from its neighbours. The coincidence is a small symbol of a bigger affinity. In Esztergom, on the Danube, a car factory owned by Suzuki has been turning out vehicles since 1992. In music schools around Japan, children learn to sing and read music according to the method of the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, while in Hungarian classrooms, children learn the violin by the method of another Suzuki, Shinichi Suzuki, who believed that talent can be taught. And every year, Japanese visitors flock to the thermal baths of Budapest and Hévíz. All of this involves money moving between the yen and the Hungarian forint. This page makes the conversion simple. It takes the European Central Bank's reference rates, in which the yen and the forint are each quoted against the euro, combines them into a yen-to-forint rate, shows the result with the date and keeps your amount in your browser. The text below follows the three threads, and each is a reason to Convert JPY to HUF and to understand what the figure means.
Using the converter
Yen in, forint out
For anything priced in thousands, Convert JPY to HUF twice, once from each direction, and see whether the figures match.
Type an amount in yen and the page returns the value in Hungarian forint, with the date of the rate beneath. Both currencies are quoted in large numbers, so read the decimals and the thousands separators with care. At weekends the page shows Friday's figure and says so. A table of round amounts and a thirty-day line complete the page. For forint into yen, use Convert HUF to JPY.
A guide, not a quote
The reference rate is the middle of the market, published once on every working day, with no margin for banks or card networks. What you are offered will be a little worse, and the difference is the price of the service. Use the page as a guide for judging offers: under one per cent is excellent, two or three per cent is normal for banks, and above four is a reason to look around. Each time you Convert JPY to HUF here, you obtain the guide.
Thread one: Suzuki in Esztergom
A Japanese car plant on the Danube
A production manager comparing two plants will Convert JPY to HUF for local wages and set them beside the euro figures.
Magyar Suzuki began production in Esztergom in 1992, the first Japanese car factory in central Europe. It has produced millions of vehicles, including the Swift, Vitara and S-Cross, exported across Europe. It employs about 3,000 people directly and many more through suppliers. Esztergom, once the seat of the Hungarian primate and home to a vast basilica, became an industrial city overnight. The plant's success has encouraged other investments.
Wages, costs and the exchange rate
Workers are paid in forint, while revenues are earned in euros and reported in yen. A weaker forint reduces the plant's costs in euro and yen terms, while a stronger one raises them. The Hungarian National Bank, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan all influence the pair. A finance manager at the plant will Convert JPY to HUF for budgets and report variances each quarter.
What a worker earns
To understand a Hungarian pay slip, Convert JPY to HUF for the net sum and compare it with a Japanese wage for similar work.
An assembly-line worker earns about 400,000 to 600,000 forint a month gross, with bonuses and allowances, a skilled technician 600,000 to 900,000, an engineer 900,000 to 1,500,000. Net pay after taxes and contributions is about 85 per cent of gross, since Hungary levies a flat income tax. A salary of 500,000 forint may seem large, but prices are expressed in the same large numbers.
Thread two: Kodály in Japan
Singing as the way to read music
Zoltán Kodály, born in 1882, composer and ethnomusicologist, believed that music education should begin with singing and with the folk songs of a child's own culture. His method uses hand signs and movable-do solfège. It spread from Hungary to schools in many countries, and Japan became one of its strongest centres. The Japanese Kodály Society, founded in 1970s, organises courses and conferences, and thousands of Japanese teachers have studied in Kecskemét, the town in central Hungary where the Kodály Institute is located.
Studying in Kecskemét
A year of study has two budgets, fees and living costs, so Convert JPY to HUF for each and add the flights.
The Kodály Institute offers summer seminars and year-long programmes for foreign music teachers. A summer course costs about 300,000 to 600,000 forint, and the yearly programme more. Accommodation in Kecskemét is inexpensive, 15,000 to 30,000 forint a night in a hotel, less in a guesthouse. A Japanese teacher planning a year of study will Convert JPY to HUF for the fees and living costs.
A thread of respect
Kodály's influence is visible in Japan's classrooms, where children sing in tune and read from hand signs. Some Japanese choirs perform Kodály's works in Hungarian, and Hungarian choirs sing Japanese songs. Concert tickets in Budapest cost from 3,000 to 15,000 forint, depending on the hall.
Thread three: Shinichi Suzuki and the violin
Talent education
A set of violin lessons is a modest sum, but Convert JPY to HUF for the monthly total and multiply by the months of the term.
Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who studied in Berlin in the 1920s, devised a method in which very young children learn music by ear, in the same way they learn their mother tongue, with parental involvement. The method, known as Suzuki or Talent Education, spread worldwide and is popular in Hungary, where many music schools teach it. Children as young as three begin the violin, cello or piano. Lessons cost 4,000 to 10,000 forint for a half hour with a private teacher.
Concerts and camps
International Suzuki gatherings in Matsumoto, Japan, and in Europe draw hundreds of children. Hungarian teachers and students join them. A week-long camp costs 150,000 to 300,000 forint, with accommodation. Parents travelling to Japan for such an event will want to Convert HUF to JPY and vice versa, using Convert HUF to JPY for the reverse direction.
Japanese tourists in Hungary
Baths, castles and paprika
At the entrance to a thermal bath, Convert JPY to HUF for the weekend ticket and the locker, and keep a small cash reserve.
Japanese visitors to Budapest love the thermal baths: the Széchenyi in City Park, the Gellért with its Art Nouveau halls and the Rudas with its Ottoman dome. A ticket costs 12,000 to 14,000 forint at weekends. They visit Buda Castle, the Parliament and the Fisherman's Bastion, and shop for paprika, salami and porcelain from Herend and Zsolnay. Hotels cost 30,000 to 90,000 forint a night. A dinner with goulash and wine costs 8,000 to 20,000 per person.
Lake Hévíz and the countryside
For a week in a spa town, Convert JPY to HUF for the room, the treatments and the meals and compare the packages.
Japanese groups also travel to Lake Hévíz, the thermal lake near Balaton. Entry costs 4,000 to 7,000 forint. They enjoy the warm water, the water lilies and the cure town atmosphere. A few stay in guesthouses in the Tokaj wine region, tasting the sweet wine and visiting cellars. Convert JPY to HUF for the cost of a bottle of Tokaji Aszú, and decide whether to bring one home within the allowance of three bottles.
The pronounced numbers
Hungarian prices are in thousands, so a 5,000-forint dinner is not as large as it looks. Keep an eye on the decimals and the thousands separators.
Hungarian words that Japanese visitors learn first
Greetings and thanks
Hungarian is a language unrelated to its neighbours' and to Japanese, though both place the family name first and both are agglutinative, building meaning by attaching endings to roots. Visitors learn "szia" for hello among friends, "jó napot" for good day, "köszönöm" for thank you and "kérem" for please. Pronunciation is regular, with stress always on the first syllable. A Japanese visitor who masters the rhythm quickly earns smiles. Hotel staff and guides usually speak English, but a few Hungarian words are welcomed.
At the restaurant and shop
To read a menu fast, Convert JPY to HUF for a main dish and a drink and use the result as a mental scale.
"Kérem a számlát" means "the bill, please", "kártyával" with a card, "készpénz" cash, "mennyibe kerül" how much does it cost. A menu lists "leves" for soup, "főétel" for main dish, "desszert" for dessert. A dish called "gulyás" is a soup, not the thick stew known abroad, and "pörkölt" is the stew. The latter is served with dumplings called "nokedli". Learning these terms prevents misunderstandings and helps you to compare prices in forint. Convert JPY to HUF for the main dish and the drinks, and the bill will hold no surprises.
Numbers in the market
Prices at a market stall are spoken in forint, with numbers such as "ezer" (a thousand), "kétezer" (two thousand), "ötezer" (five thousand). A stall holder may write the number on a card. For a bag of paprika at 1,500 forint, the phrase "ezerötszáz" is enough. Counting in Hungarian is easier than it looks, because the system is regular.
Everyday costs in a Hungarian city
Rents, food and transport
A long stay needs a monthly plan, so Convert JPY to HUF for rent, food and transport and add them in a column.
A one-bedroom flat in central Budapest rents for 250,000 to 450,000 forint a month, in Debrecen or Szeged 120,000 to 220,000. Utilities cost 30,000 to 60,000 in winter. A supermarket basket for a week for one person is 15,000 to 25,000 forint, a lunch menu 2,500 to 4,500, a monthly pass for public transport 9,500 to 15,000 in Budapest. A Japanese expatriate will compare these sums with Tokyo and discover that Hungary is much cheaper, particularly for rent. Convert JPY to HUF for the monthly total.
Health and insurance
Public health insurance covers residents who pay contributions, and the Hungarian Health Insurance card gives access to state clinics. Private clinics are popular for speed and language, with a consultation costing 15,000 to 30,000 forint. Dental care is cheap and attracts visitors from other countries. Travel insurance for short stays is advisable. Keep your policy number with you, and save the emergency number, 112.
Schools and childcare
Japanese families in Budapest may send children to international schools, at 3 to 8 million forint a year, or to the Japanese Saturday school, which supplements local education. Kindergarten in Hungary is cheap or free for residents, with meals paid separately. Parents should register early.
Business, language and culture
Doing business with Hungarians
Invoices in forint should be checked on the day of issue: Convert JPY to HUF and note the rate in the file.
Hungarians value personal relations and directness. Meetings begin with a handshake and small talk. Deadlines are respected, but flexibility is common. Contracts are in Hungarian, English or both, and legal advice is useful. Invoices in forint are common for local suppliers, while exporters invoice in euros. Hungarian companies pay on 30 to 60 days' terms, and delays are not unusual. Japanese firms handle payments with care and use credit insurance when necessary.
The language of money in contracts
When a contract involves yen, forint and euros, it should state the currency, the date of the exchange rate and the source. A common clause refers to the rate published by the European Central Bank or the Hungarian National Bank on the invoice date. This makes disputes unlikely and simplifies accounting. The reference rate on this page is a useful independent check.
Courtesy and gifts
When invited to a Hungarian home, bring flowers (an odd number, not thirteen) or a bottle of wine. Take off your shoes if asked. A Japanese gift of green tea or sweets is welcomed. Toasts are made with a firm clink of glasses, except for beer, which Hungarians traditionally do not clink, a custom linked to 1849. The tradition is observed less strictly today.
Travel logistics for a Japanese visitor
Flights and trains
Direct flights between Japan and Hungary are not available, so passengers connect in Istanbul, Doha, Dubai or a European hub, with journey times of 15 to 20 hours. A return fare is 120,000 to 220,000 yen. Within Hungary, trains link Budapest with Debrecen, Szeged, Pécs and Győr, with fares of 3,000 to 8,000 forint. The metro and trams in Budapest use a ticket costing about 450 forint, with a 72-hour travel card at 5,500 to 7,500.
Driving and fuel
Driving requires an international permit and a vignette for motorways, bought online. Fuel is sold by the litre; Convert L to gal translates into gallons. Traffic keeps to the right, the opposite of Japan, so take care at junctions. Parking in Budapest's centre is paid and regulated, with fines for non-payment.
Time and weather
Travellers going on to Switzerland can use Convert JPY to CHF for the next stage.
Hungary is eight hours behind Japan in winter and seven in summer. The climate is continental, with hot summers above 30 degrees Celsius and cold winters. Convert °C to °F helps American readers. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons.
Money matters in Hungary
Cards, cash and the exchange-office problem
Before you trust a counter, Convert JPY to HUF here and check that the board's rate is within a few per cent of the figure.
Cards are widely accepted in Hungary, including in taxis and small cafés. Cash is useful in markets and for tips. Exchange offices in the centre of Budapest are notorious for hidden commissions. Use cash machines of banks, decline conversion to yen, and check any counter's total before handing over your money. A card with no foreign-transaction fees is best.
Tipping
A tip of ten per cent is customary in restaurants unless a service charge of 10 to 12.5 per cent is already included. Say the total including tip as you pay. In taxis, round up. Japanese visitors, for whom tipping is unfamiliar, should check the bill before adding more.
Planning around the rate
The forint is one of the more volatile currencies in the European Union, and the yen reacts strongly to global risk. The pair can swing several per cent in a month. Look at the thirty-day line on this page, and for large payments, such as tuition or deposits, split the conversion and note each rate.
Related conversions
Other currencies for a Central European tour
For the euro, Convert JPY to EUR; for Poland, Convert JPY to PLN; for the Czech Republic, Convert JPY to CZK; for Romania, Convert JPY to RON. Distances are in kilometres, and Convert km to mi helps readers who use miles.
Mistakes to avoid
Mixing up zeros
Hungarian and Japanese prices both run into thousands. Check the number twice before you hand over a note.
The terminal's offer
If a card machine offers to charge you in yen, say no. Pay in forint and let your bank convert.
Old rates
A rate noted last month may be a percentage point or more away from today's. The date beside the result protects you.
Names in order
The page downloads only the table of daily reference rates. The amount you type never leaves your device, and no account is needed. From Esztergom to Kecskemét, the habit is the same: Convert JPY to HUF, read the date, compare any offer against the figure and keep a note.