5 Yen

The Bank of Chosen — Korea's central bank under Japanese colonial administration — issued this note during a period when the yen bloc was being aggressively expanded across Japanese-controlled territories in Northeast Asia. The institution was nominally a private bank but functioned in every practical sense as a colonial monetary authority, with Tokyo exercising direct influence over issuance policy.

Pick 30 belongs to a series that remained in circulation well past Japan's 1945 surrender. Vast quantities were held by Korean civilians and were rendered worthless almost overnight when the U.S. Military Government introduced the new won in 1945, leaving this series among the more frequently encountered Bank of Chosen types in worn condition.