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5 Sen
| Issuer | Bank of Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#52 |
| Obverse description | Black on yellow underprint. At left, a vignette of the equestrian statue of Kusunoki Masashige, situated outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, rendered in fine letterpress detail. Vertical Japanese inscriptions identify the Bank of Japan and the denomination, with the imprint of the Great Japan Imperial Printing Bureau at the lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in orange on plain paper. The design is dominated by a large central oval guilloche cartouche framed by scalloped borders and chrysanthemum ornaments at the corners. Within the cartouche, vertical Japanese characters state the Bank of Japan and the denomination, with the Imperial chrysanthemum seal surmounting the oval and a kiri (paulownia) floral motif at its base; the numeral "5" appears in white relief at the left and right flanks of the guilloche. |
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| Comments |
Japan's wartime small-denomination paper issues reflect a straightforward materials problem: metal coinage was being pulled from circulation to feed weapons production, and the Cabinet Printing Bureau was tasked with paper substitutes down to fractional values. This 5 Sen note is part of that series of wartime emergency issues, a category that saw enormous print runs but also high rates of destruction — post-surrender inflation made low-denomination notes worthless almost immediately, and most were discarded or pulped during the occupation-era monetary reforms of 1946.
The watermark is notably simple by international standards, consistent with wartime production constraints at the Bureau.