ANKARA 

The Japanese yen hit a 38-year low against the greenback, plunging to as low as 161.28 per dollar during Friday trading.

Japan on Friday decided to replace Masato Kanda with Atsushi Mimura as its top currency diplomat as yen dips, according to Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency.

"I'm confident that Mimura will take over the job from Kanda and tackle various challenges related to international affairs, which include foreign exchange issues at the moment," Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said, Kyodo News reported.

The Japanese Finance Ministry's director-general of international bureau Mimura will take the helm on July 31.

The appointment came as the yen's steep decline put constant pressure on Japanese authorities to defend its currency, but market expects authorities to intervene in the FX markets.

Year-to-date, the yen dipped nearly 14% as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has taken a more moderate approach in normalizing monetary policy than projected.