500 Yen - Heisei Okinawa

This piece belongs to the 47 Prefectures Coin Program, a Japan Mint initiative running from 2008 to 2016 that issued two distinct 500 yen commemoratives for each of Japan's 47 prefectures. Okinawa's inclusion carries particular administrative weight — the islands were under U.S. civil administration from 1945 until reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972, meaning the prefecture spent nearly three decades outside the Japanese monetary system entirely, using the U.S.-issued B yen and later the dollar.

The bicolor clad construction used across this series was introduced by the Japan Mint in 1997 specifically to counter a surge in counterfeiting of the previous generation 500 yen coin.