100 Yen

The Bank of Chosun — Japan's colonial central bank for Korea — issued this note during the final stretch of the Pacific War, when wartime resource constraints had already degraded printing quality across the Japanese currency network. By 1944, the colonial economy was under severe strain from military requisitioning, and large-denomination notes like this circulated under conditions of accelerating inflation.

After liberation in August 1945, Bank of Chosun notes continued circulating in the south under U.S. Military Government authorization until the new Bank of Korea was established in 1950. P#37 examples showing genuine wear often owe it to that extended post-colonial period rather than wartime use.