5 Cents Eta Jima; School Command

Eta Jima — the former Imperial Japanese Naval Academy island near Hiroshima — was occupied by U.S. forces after the surrender and converted into a Marine Corps training facility under A.P.O. 354. The Officers' Mess scrip issued there was purely internal, used to manage canteen transactions without drawing on military payment certificates or occupying currency. These small-denomination chits circulated only within a tightly controlled institutional environment and were never intended to leave the island.

Yellow paper stock was a common differentiator for low-value mess scrip, helping cashiers sort denominations quickly. The printing was done locally in Japan, almost certainly through one of the U.S. military's contracted Japanese printers active during the occupation period.