There was no better currency than the yen last year and strategists forecast more gains this year, even as Japan promises to intervene again in foreign exchange markets and expands the world's biggest debt burden.
The yen's advance against every major currency illustrated the anxiety in global markets as Europe's debt crisis stretched into a second year on the heels of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the U.S. housing market crash.
Japanese officials sold at least ¥14.3 trillion last year to stem gains that cut profits for exporters and Finance Minister Jun Azumi has pledged more action. Intervention in 2012 may fail again as financial turmoil attracts investors to the world's third-most traded currency for its low volatility.