was a colloquial term used to refer to a form of military
scrip
A scrip (or ''chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitive payment of employees under truck systems; or for use in local comme ...
used in
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
US-Occupied
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, and
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
from September 7, 1945, to July 21, 1948. They are notable for being the first "Military Payment Certificates" (In Korea) given after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
had ended.
History
Both "A" and "B yen" scrip in denominations from
10 sen to
100 yen were printed in 1945. These were to be used immediately upon the invasion of Okinawa, April 1, 1945.
"A yen" scrip along with their "B yen" counterparts were initially presented in "SPECIMAN" booklets to help US Forces personnel identify the new invasion currency to be used.
In general, "A yen" scrip was printed using the block number "A-A" with exceptions. The block number "H-A" was used for specimen examples that found their way into circulation and for replacement notes.
When the "A-yen" scrip was released in Japan, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands from July 19, to September 30, 1946 it was restricted to military use only.
[Kadekawa, Manabu. ''Okinawa Champloo Encyclopedia'' (沖縄チャンプルー事典). Tokyo: Yama-Kei Publishers, 2001. p 176.] The United States military used these as payment certificates, while the civilian population used "
B Yen
was a colloquial term used to refer to a form of military scrip used in post-war US-Occupied Okinawa from April 15, 1946, to September 1958."B yen." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). ''R ...
" scrip as currency.
[ Korea remains the sole exception, as there was a short time period from September 7, 1945, to July 10, 1946 when "A yen" scrip was used as general currency.][
]
Production
All "A yen" series notes are considered scarcer than the "B yen" series, despite the former having millions more printed. Each note was printed under the A-A block expect for replacement notes which used block H-A.
Collecting
Every denomination of the Japanese "A-yen" series is considered to be "scarce" due to their lower survivability rate. This was partly caused by the limited time the notes were allowed to circulate as civilian currency, and the limited time given to redeem them. The smaller denomination bills were more likely to have been kept as they were issued in greater numbers and had a lower value. High denomination bills of "20" and "100 yen" are rare as only a few of these notes were intentionally kept by civilians from redemption. Unredeemed notes were invalidated for civilian use afterwards which essentially made them worthless to those keeping them. The other factor in their lower survivability rate comes from printing quantities which are much smaller than their "B" series counterparts.
See also
* Allied Military Currency Allied Military Currency ("AMC") was a form of currency issued by the Allied powers during World War II, to be issued to troops entering liberated or newly occupied countries, as a form of currency control.
Background
Historically, soldiers serv ...
* Japanese invasion money
Japanese invasion money, officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes ( ''Dai Tō-A Sensō gunpyō'', "Greater East Asia War military scrip"), was currency issued by the Japanese Military Authority, as a replacement for local currency afte ...
* Japanese military currency (1937–1945)
Japanese military currency (Chinese and Japanese: 日本軍用手票, also 日本軍票 in short) was money issued to the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces as a salary. The military yen reached its peak during the Pacific War pe ...
* Military payment certificate
References
{{Japanese currency and coinage
Japanese yen
Banknotes of military authorities
Okinawa under United States occupation