Currency
The Currency of Japan is Yen ¥. There are 1000, 5000 and 10000 notes and coins in 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen denominations.
Coins
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1 yen coin
Made of aluminium. Diameter: 20mm, weight: 1g. First issued in 1955. The design on the front is a young tree and the back has the number 1 and the year.
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5 yen coin
Made of brass. Diameter: 22mm, weight: 3.75g. First issued in 1959. It has a hole in the middle and the front displays an ear of rice and water and the number 5 and there is a gear wheel around the hole. The back displays the name of the country and the year.
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10 yen coin
Made of bronze but also contains zinc. Diameter: 23.5mm, weight: 4.5g. First issued in 1959. The design on the front is Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in(temple) and the back has an evergreen tree, the year and the number 10.
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50 yen coin
Made from cupronickel. Diameter: 21mm, weight: 4g. First issued in 1967. It has a hole in the middle and the front displays a chrysanthemum. The back displays the number 50 and the year.
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100 yen coin
Made from cupronickel. Diameter: 22.6mm, weight: 4.8g. First issued in 1967. The front has cherry blossoms and the back has the number 100 and the year.
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500 yen coin
Made from nickel brass. Diameter: 26.5mm, weight: 7g. First issued in 2000. The front has a paulownia and the back has bamboo, a mandarin orange, the number 500 and the year.
Notes
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1,000 yen note
These are described as Series E ¥1,000 notes and are 76mm wide × 150mm long. First issued on 1st November, 2004. The design on the front is a portrait of Hideyo Noguchi and the back has Mt. Fuji and cherry blossom.
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2,000 yen note
These are described as Series D ¥2,000 notes and are 76mm wide × 154mm long. First issued on 19th July, 2000. The design on the front is the Shureimon of Shuri Castle in Okinawa Prefecture and the back is a scene from the Tale of Genji and a portrait of Murasaki Shikibu.*There is also 2000 Yen bill, but they are no longer printed and are rarely used.
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5,000 yen note
These are described as Series E ¥5,000 notes and are 76mm wide × 156mm long. First issued on 1st November, 2004. The design on the front is a portrait of Ichiyo Higuchi and the back is the Painting of Irises by Korin Ogata.
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10,000 yen note
These are described as Series E ¥10,000 notes and are 76mm wide × 160mm long. First issued on 1st November, 2004. The design on the front is a portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa and the back is the statue of the phoenix from Byodo-in Temple.