- Banknotes of the Japanese yen
The banknotes of the Japanese yen are part of the physical form of Japan's currency. The issuance of the yen banknotes began in 1872, two years after the currency was introduced. Throughout its history, the denominations have ranged from 10 sen to 10,000 yen.
Before World War II
In 1872, the Ministry of Finance introduced notes in denominations between 10 sen and 100 yen. "Imperial Japanese Paper Currency" followed in 1873 in denominations of 1 yen up to 20 yen. "Imperial Japanese Paper Money" was issued between 1881 and 1883 in denominations between 20 sen and 10 yen.
In 1877 and 1878, the Imperial Japanese National Bank issued 1 and 5 yen notes. In 1885, the
Bank of Japan began issuing notes, in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 100 yen. 20 yen notes were added in 1917, followed by 200 yen in 1927 and 1000 yen in 1945.Between 1917 and 1922, the government issued 10, 20 and 50 sen notes. 50 sen notes were reintroduced in 1938. In 1944, 5 and 10 sen notes were introduced by the Bank of Japan.
Allied forces notes
The Allies issued notes in denominations of 10 and 50 sen, 1, 5, 10, 20, 100 and 1000 yen between 1945 and 1951, during which time the Bank of Japan also issued notes. Banknotes below 1 yen became invalid on
December 31 ,1953 by the same legislation mentioned above.Australia actually made notes for the occupation as well and those can be seen at the Australian Reserve Bank website [http://www.rba.gov.au/Museum/Displays/_Images/1920_1960/100_yen_note_front_big.jpg]
Regaining sovereignty
By the early 1950s, notes below 50 yen had been replaced by coins, followed by those for 50 and 100 yen in the late 1950s. In 1957 and 1958, 5000 and 10,000 yen notes were introduced. The 500 yen notes were replaced after 1982, while 2000 yen notes were introduced in 2000.
1946-48
The series C introduced two new high value banknotes ¥5000 and ¥10000.
1984
This is the current issue. The
EURion constellation pattern can be observed on the series E.External links
* [http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/list/yuko/data/money01.pdf List of banknotes valid in Japan]
* [http://www.imes.boj.or.jp/cm/english_htmls/index.htm Currency Museum of the Bank of Japan]Japanese
* [http://www.buntetsu.net/mbc/ Museum of Bank notes and Coins]
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