Fat Yens

The Japanese yen continued last week its recent upward movement (TIME, March 1). As Chinese merchants invested heavily in yen at Shanghai and Hongkong, Japanese bankers watched the quotations creep up and up at Tokyo. Before the week closed, parch-ment-skinned board-boys 'chalked up a weird symbol meaning "One yen equals 47.312c today"--the nearest approach to parity (49.85c) since 1923.