The safe-haven JPY rose broadly on Tuesday, as investors considered geopolitical risks.
These risks include possible U.S. action in Syria and North Korea, and a resurgence in previously written-off contenders in France's presidential race.
The possibility of some kind of U.S. military action against North Korea in response to its weapons tests grew after U.S. missile strikes against Syria last week in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on civilians.
The USD extended earlier losses against the JPY slipping 0.4% to 110.54, moving further away from its previous day's high of 111.57.
China and South Korea agreed on Monday to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests, a senior official in Seoul said, as a U.S. Navy strike group headed to the region in a show of force.
"The market has become more cautious about U.S. policies, with attention to increased risks," said Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Markit in Tokyo. "The yen is easy to buy in such situations."
Investors were also weighing the increased uncertainty of what is now increasingly seeming like a four-way contest in France's presidential election.
Opinion polls indicate far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron will come out ahead in the April 23 first round and make it to the May 7 run-off, with Macron winning. But leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon has seen his ratings surge and conservative Francois Fillon, damaged by a nepotism scandal, has also regained some lost ground.
The euro fell to a 4-month low versus the JPY, falling as much as 0.4% to 116.880.
In commodities, Gold prices are also rising as political tension over North Korea and Syria supported demand for the safe-haven metal.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is currently at the G7 Foreign Affair Ministers meeting in Italy where political leaders are working to produce a cohesive message on Syria.
The U.S. had been working to rally international support for its revised stance on Syria ahead of the American Secretary of State's first diplomatic trip to Moscow.
However, the Kremlin announced Monday that Tillerson and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet in what could be a sign of increased tensions.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver was up 0.13% at $17.938 a troy ounce.
