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5 Yen Japanese Military Occupation
| Issuer | Imperial Japanese Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Yen |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on blue and yellow underprint, with two onagadori long-tailed roosters facing each other as the central vignette, their elaborate tail feathers sweeping dramatically across the note. The Imperial chrysanthemum seal appears at the top centre, with a red circular official stamp at lower left, and the denomination numeral '5' in the lower right corner within a guilloche border. The printer's imprint runs along the lower margin, with the denomination in large Chinese characters at centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 大日本帝國政府 五圓 大日本帝國內閣印刷局製造 (Translation: Empire of Japan 5 Yen Made by the Printing Bureau of the Empire of Japan) |
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| Comments |
The Japanese Military Currency (軍票, gunpyo) series was issued specifically to extract resources from occupied territories without drawing on Japan's domestic money supply. This 5 Yen note belongs to the series produced for general military use across multiple theaters — the same notes circulated in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific depending on where troops were deployed, with no geographic restriction printed on the face.
After Japan's surrender in 1945, Allied occupation authorities declared all gunpyo worthless overnight. Holders received no compensation. The resulting losses fell entirely on local populations and collaborating merchants, and the notes were officially demonetized before most could even attempt redemption.