1 Silver Yen

The convertible note series introduced in 1885 was a direct consequence of Japan's Silver Coinage Act and the Matsukata fiscal reforms — Masayoshi Matsukata had spent years dismantling the inflationary inconvertible notes that had destabilized the economy through the late 1870s. Nippon Ginko itself had only been established in 1882, and this series was among its first formally convertible issues, redeemable in silver on demand.

Printed domestically by the Ministry of Finance's own bureau rather than contracted to a European firm, which was still the exception rather than the rule for Asian central banks in this period. Convertibility was suspended during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and never fully restored on silver terms — Japan moved to a gold standard in 1897, making this note's silver redemption guarantee functionally obsolete within twelve years of issue.