GBPJPY: How to Trade the Pound-Yen Pair

GBPJPY is the price of one British pound in Japanese yen, a cross pair whose price is GBPUSD multiplied by USDJPY. One pip is 0.01 and is worth 1,000 yen on 1 standard lot, about $6.67 at 150 yen to the dollar, and the pair moves most in London hours and on Bank of England and Bank of Japan news.

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Last updated 27 October 2026

GBPJPY is the exchange rate between the British pound and the Japanese yen: a price of 195.00 means one pound buys 195 yen. It is a cross pair, with no US dollar in it, and its price is in effect GBPUSD multiplied by USDJPY, so it often moves further in a day than either of them.

To trade GBPJPY you buy if you expect the pound to rise against the yen and sell if you expect it to fall. This guide covers how the price is built, what one pip is worth when profits are counted in yen, why the pair moves so far, the hours it is busiest, what drives it, what it costs to hold and how to size and place the trade in MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The usual path is to learn these, practise on an MT5 demo account, then trade live with the same steps. The examples use round prices (GBPUSD 1.30, USDJPY 150, GBPJPY 195.00); your platform's Specification window shows the exact figures for your account.

What is GBPJPY?

GBPJPY is the currency pair that prices the British pound in Japanese yen, with the pound as the base currency and the yen as the quote currency. A rise in GBPJPY means the pound has strengthened against the yen, and the profit or loss on a position is counted in yen first.

Most trading in both currencies goes through the dollar. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Triennial Survey found $24 billion a day of direct pound-yen trading in April 2025, 0.3% of global turnover, against $731 billion for GBP/USD and $1.4 trillion for USD/JPY. So the GBPJPY price you see is built from those two deep dollar pairs:

GBPJPY ≈ GBPUSD × USDJPY. At 1.3000 × 150.00 = 195.00. If GBPUSD rises 1% to 1.3130 while USDJPY rises 1% to 151.50, GBPJPY becomes 1.3130 × 151.50 ≈ 198.92, a rise of about 2%, or 392 pips.

When both legs move the same way, their moves add up. That is the main reason GBPJPY covers more ground than most pairs. How it compares with the majors is set out in the best forex pairs to trade.

What is one pip on GBPJPY worth?

One pip on GBPJPY is 0.01 and is worth 1,000 yen on 1 standard lot, which is about $6.67 when USDJPY is at 150. Because the yen is the quote currency, MT5 converts each yen result into your account currency at the current USDJPY rate.

Pip value in yen = lot size × 100,000 × 0.01. At 1 lot that is ¥1,000; at 0.20 lot it is ¥200. In dollars, divide by USDJPY: ¥1,000 ÷ 150 = $6.67, and ¥200 ÷ 150 = $1.33. If USDJPY rises to 160, the same ¥1,000 is worth $6.25, so the dollar value of a pip shifts slightly with the yen. Yen pairs are explained in lots, pips and pip value, and the pip value calculator does the conversion for you.

Worked example: one GBPJPY trade in both directions

You open 0.20 lot at 195.00, so each pip is worth ¥200, about $1.33 at USDJPY 150:

GBPJPY moves to Pips moved Buy 0.20 lot Sell 0.20 lot
196.00 +100 +¥20,000 (+$133.33) −¥20,000 (−$133.33)
194.00 −100 −¥20,000 (−$133.33) +¥20,000 (+$133.33)
197.00 +200 +¥40,000 (+$266.67) −¥40,000 (−$266.67)
193.00 −200 −¥40,000 (−$266.67) +¥40,000 (+$266.67)

With a 2.5-pip spread, 0.20 lot costs 2.5 × ¥200 = ¥500, about $3.33, so a buy closed at 196.00 nets $133.33 − $3.33 = $130.00.

The position is worth 20,000 pounds, or 20,000 × 1.30 = $26,000. At 1:100 leverage the margin set aside is $26,000 ÷ 100 = $260, as leverage and margin explains.

Why does GBPJPY move so much?

GBPJPY moves a lot because it combines two moving parts, the pound against the dollar and the dollar against the yen, and because the yen reacts strongly to shifts in global risk mood. When the pound strengthens and the yen weakens at the same time, both effects push GBPJPY the same way.

At 195.00, a 1% move is 195 pips, against about 130 pips for a 1% move in GBPUSD at 1.3000. So a move of the same percentage shows up as more pips on GBPJPY, and at ¥1,000 per pip per lot each of those pips is worth about two thirds of a EURUSD pip.

The yen is widely treated as a safe haven: in a global sell-off, money tends to flow into it, and in calm markets it tends to flow out towards higher-yielding currencies. That makes GBPJPY sensitive to risk-on and risk-off swings even on days with no UK or Japanese news. A 14-day ATR on the daily chart shows how far the pair is moving now, as Bollinger Bands and ATR explains, and volatility regimes shows how to adjust size when the range widens.

When is the best time to trade GBPJPY?

GBPJPY is most active in the London session, 08:00 to 17:00 UTC, which is 09:00 to 18:00 at UTC+1 and 15:00 to 00:00 at UTC+7, and it starts to move in the Tokyo session before that. The hour when Tokyo hands over to London is often when the day's range begins to open up.

The table uses the hours from forex trading sessions, for when the UK and US are on winter time. In the northern summer the London windows start an hour earlier in every column; Japan and these offsets do not change their clocks.

Window UTC UTC+1 (West and Central Africa) UTC+2 (Southern Africa) UTC+7 (mainland Southeast Asia) UTC+8 (maritime Southeast Asia and East Asia) How GBPJPY behaves
Tokyo 00:00 to 09:00 01:00 to 10:00 02:00 to 11:00 07:00 to 16:00 08:00 to 17:00 The yen side is active; Japanese data and Bank of Japan news land here
Tokyo and London handover 08:00 to 09:00 09:00 to 10:00 10:00 to 11:00 15:00 to 16:00 16:00 to 17:00 Both home markets open; ranges start to widen
London 08:00 to 17:00 09:00 to 18:00 10:00 to 19:00 15:00 to 00:00 16:00 to 01:00 The busiest hours; UK data and Bank of England news
Late New York 17:00 to 22:00 18:00 to 23:00 19:00 to 00:00 00:00 to 05:00 01:00 to 06:00 Quiet, wider spreads

At UTC+7 and UTC+8, the Tokyo session falls in the working day and London runs into the evening. The forex market hours tool shows which sessions are open now.

What moves the GBPJPY price?

GBPJPY moves with anything that changes the pound or the yen: Bank of England and Bank of Japan decisions, UK and Japanese data, the interest-rate gap between the two, and global risk mood, which often matters most for the yen side.

Driver Why it can move GBPJPY Where to learn more
Bank of England decisions Bank Rate is announced eight times a year; a higher expected UK rate tends to lift the pound Central banks and currencies
Bank of Japan decisions The Bank of Japan holds eight Monetary Policy Meetings a year, each over two days; a shift towards higher Japanese rates tends to lift the yen Monetary policy and currencies
Interest-rate gap UK rates have long been higher than Japanese ones, which shapes the swap and draws carry traders into long positions Carry trade and swap
Risk mood In a sell-off, money moves into the yen and GBPJPY often falls fast; calm markets can reverse it Risk-on and risk-off
The two dollar legs US data that moves both GBPUSD and USDJPY moves GBPJPY through them Major economic releases

When many traders hold long GBPJPY for the swap and the mood turns, they may close at once. That is a carry unwind, and it explains some of the pair's sharpest one-way days, as carry trade and swap describes.

What does it cost to trade GBPJPY?

Trading GBPJPY costs you the spread, usually wider than on EURUSD or GBPUSD, and swap for each night held, which on this pair can be a credit on one side and a charge on the other. Some accounts also charge commission.

Cost How it works Example on 0.20 lot
Spread Paid once, when you open 2.5 pips × ¥200 = ¥500, about $3.33
Swap Set separately for long and short positions from the UK-Japan rate gap; one weekday counts three nights At +¥300 per lot per night for a long, 5 nights pay 5 × 0.20 × ¥300 = ¥300, about $2.00
Commission Charged on some accounts, per lot Shown in your account terms

Read the swap long and swap short in the symbol's specification before holding a position for days, because the two sides can differ a lot. How each cost is worked out is covered in spread, commission and swap.

How do you size a GBPJPY trade?

Size a GBPJPY trade from the money you choose to risk and the distance to your stop: lots = money at risk ÷ (stop distance in pips × pip value per lot in your account currency). At USDJPY 150 the pip value per lot is about $6.67.

Example: a $2,000 account, 1% risk per trade ($20) and a stop loss 60 pips from the entry. The size is $20 ÷ (60 × $6.67) = $20 ÷ $400 = 0.05 lot, so each pip is worth ¥50, about $0.33. With a take profit 120 pips away:

GBPJPY stops are usually wider than on EURUSD because the pair moves further, so the same $20 buys a smaller size. The method, including pairs not quoted in dollars, is set out in position sizing, and the position size calculator does the yen conversion for you.

How do you trade GBPJPY on MetaTrader 5?

To trade GBPJPY on MT5, add it to Market Watch, read its Specification, press F9 to open the New Order window, enter the volume, stop loss and take profit, then click Buy or Sell. The Profit column in the Toolbox shows the result already converted to your account currency.

  1. Add the symbol. Right-click Market Watch, choose Symbols, search for GBPJPY and click Show.
  2. Read the specification. Right-click GBPJPY and choose Specification for the digits (usually 3), contract size, swap long and short and sessions, as the MT5 Market Watch help describes.
  3. Open the order window. Press F9, or right-click and choose New Order, as the MT5 help on executing trades describes.
  4. Set the size and exits. Enter the volume, then your stop loss and take profit prices.
  5. Choose the direction. Click Buy if you expect the pound to rise against the yen, Sell if you expect it to fall.
  6. Manage and close. Right-click the position in the Trade tab to modify it, or double-click and press Close.

The full first-trade walkthrough, including the mobile app, is in place your first trade on MT5.

Try it on demo

On an MT5 demo account, open GBPJPY, GBPUSD and USDJPY side by side. Multiply the GBPUSD and USDJPY prices and compare the result with the GBPJPY quote. Then add a 14-period ATR to the GBPJPY daily chart, note its value in pips, and open 0.01 lot with a stop loss and take profit. When you close it, check that the result matches pips moved × ¥10, converted at the USDJPY price.

Frequently asked questions

What does GBPJPY mean?

GBPJPY is the price of one British pound in Japanese yen. A quote of 195.00 means 1 pound buys 195 yen. Buying GBPJPY is a position that the pound will rise against the yen; selling is a position that it will fall.

How much is 1 pip on GBPJPY?

One pip is a move of 0.01. It is worth ¥1,000 on 1 standard lot, ¥100 on 0.10 lot and ¥10 on 0.01 lot. In dollars, divide by USDJPY: at 150, ¥1,000 is about $6.67.

Why is GBPJPY so volatile?

Its price is roughly GBPUSD multiplied by USDJPY, so moves in the two dollar pairs can add together, and the yen reacts strongly to changes in global risk mood. At a price near 195, a 1% move is about 195 pips.

What is the best time to trade GBPJPY?

The London session, 08:00 to 17:00 UTC while the UK is on winter time, and an hour earlier in summer: 09:00 to 18:00 at UTC+1 and 10:00 to 19:00 at UTC+2. The Tokyo session before it, 00:00 to 09:00 UTC (08:00 to 17:00 at UTC+8), is when the yen side is most active.

Is GBPJPY a good pair for beginners?

It can be traded with the same steps as any pair, but its wider daily range means a stop sits further away. Size it from the money at risk, start with 0.01 lot on demo and compare its ATR with EURUSD before trading it live.

Sources

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