Catalog
200 Yen
| Issuer | Bank of Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 200 Yen (200 JPY) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 貳 707040 {5} 貳 百 券 換 究 行 銀 本 日 百 貳 日 相此 百 本 圓 百 貳 渡券 圓 銀 可引 行 申換 候に 金 貨 貳 百 圓 {5} 707040 200 造幣局刷印閣内府政國帝本日大 200 (Translation: Two hundred Two hundred Bank of Japan convertible note Two hundred yen Bank of Japan Two hundred yen This bill can be exchanged for two hundred yen in gold Imperial Government of Japan Cabinet Printing Bureau) |
| Reverse description | Red letterpress print centred on the Bank of Japan (Nippon Ginko) logo, surrounded by a fine guilloche pattern. The denomination is expressed in vertical Japanese script above the Western numeral and English legend "200 YEN" at the lower centre. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Japan's wartime fiscal pressure by 1945 was acute enough that the government authorised denominations it had previously avoided. The 200 Yen was an unusual value for Japanese issue — most prewar and early wartime series had adhered to round multiples more familiar to the public — and its appearance so late in the Pacific War reflects the inflationary spiral that was already compressing the purchasing power of lower notes into near irrelevance.
The Cabinet Printing Bureau was still operating in Tokyo despite sustained Allied bombing campaigns targeting the capital in early 1945, which creates a narrow and genuinely precarious window for production. Notes from this period often show minor paper inconsistencies attributable to wartime supply constraints on quality inputs.