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5 Yen 'Kajiya'
| Issuer | Bank of Japan (日本銀行) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1878 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Yen (5 JPY) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central to the face is a large intaglio oval vignette of Kajiya, a blacksmith deity, seated at work before an anvil with tools at hand, engraved with fine detail over a dense guilloche underprint in green. Four circular medallions each bearing the numeral '5' are symmetrically placed around the central vignette, while vertical Japanese-character inscriptions in letterpress flank both margins. Two red circular seals are affixed — one upper left, one lower centre — with the English legend 'NATIONAL BANK' at the top and 'FIVE YEN' at the base of the oval. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 10 | TRESOR FRANCAIS | 10 TERRITOIRES OCCUPES LE CONTREFACTEUR SERA PUNI DES PEINES PREVUES PAR LA LOI |
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| Comments |
Chiossone's involvement here is worth understanding clearly: the Italian engraver arrived in Japan in 1875 at the Meiji government's invitation, hired specifically to modernize the country's intaglio printing capabilities and train a domestic workforce. This note is among his earliest Bank of Japan work, and the engraving quality reflects a craftsman operating at full command of his skills rather than someone still establishing a new workshop.
The "Kajiya" nickname — blacksmith — derives from a figure in the design, a common way Japanese collectors and dealers distinguished notes in an era before standardized pick references. The Diplomorpha sikokiana fiber gave the paper a particular tactile resistance that counterfeiters found genuinely difficult to replicate with materials available in the 1870s and 1880s.