The base unit of both currencies shared the same Chinese character/Kanji (traditional Chinese: 圓; simplified Chinese: 圆; Japanese Shinjitai: 円) that means "circle". It is pronounced yuán in Mandarin Chinese and en in Standard Japanese. In mainland China, the Chinese character is more frequently written in everyday situations using the simpler character 元, which has the same pronunciation as the formal financial character 圓 in Mandarin[1] (but not in Japanese and in some Chinese varieties).[2] The symbol is usually placed before the value it represents, for example ¥100.