Peter's Japan blog

I saw this on a trivia tv show in Japan. The sign they use in Japan for their currency, the Yen, is this: 円. (I think the old sign was 圓) Why is it such a strange symbol for money? Coins are round, paper money is flat and it doesn't look like a letter either. So what is it?

I read somewhere that it looks like a counter in a bank, but that's not the true origin. On this trivia show, they showed the real origin with an interview to prove it.

Take a look at this satellite image: (image taken from Google Earth)

Look familiar, doesn't it?
This building is the Bank of Japan (aka Nihon Ginkou / 日本銀行) that issues the coins and bills for the Japanese Yen :)
They just took the shape of the building and used it for the currency sign!