20 Yen

This note entered circulation during one of the most turbulent monetary episodes in modern Japanese history. Japan had returned to the gold standard in January 1930 under Finance Minister Inoue Junnosuke, a deeply unpopular decision that locked the yen at an overvalued rate and accelerated deflationary pressure across an already weakened economy. The gold standard was abandoned less than two years later, in December 1931, meaning notes of this issue saw active use through almost the entire duration of that failed experiment.

Inoue was assassinated in February 1932 by an ultranationalist gunman — a measure of how much political anger the policy had generated.