500 Yen - Heisei Chubu International Airport

Issued to mark the opening of Chubu Centrair International Airport in February 2005, this commemorative was part of Japan's long-running prefectural and infrastructure series produced under the Heisei emperor. Centrair, as it is commonly known, was built on a man-made island in Ise Bay off the coast of Aichi Prefecture — a project that required moving roughly 80 million cubic meters of earth and took just under four years to complete.

Mintages for individual Heisei-era commemorative silver 500-yen pieces vary considerably, and collector demand tends to track closely with regional pride rather than national significance.