A cherry blossom (or commonly known in Japan as sakura) is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata.

In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhist influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware. The transience of the blossoms, the exquisite beauty and volatility, has often been associated with mortality and graceful and readily acceptance of destiny and karma; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect.

Translation: Japan
One hundred yen

Large numeral 100 in centre with the year of issue in Kanji below.

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana and katakana. Japanese coins are read with a left to right format: Emperors name → Number representing the year of reign → Year.

Hirohito (1901-1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa.