Japan Hirohito 500 Yen

History

500 Yen 1982-1989, Y# 87, Japan, Hirohito

Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com

Description

Hirohito (1901–1989) was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 25 December 1926, until his death on 7 January 1989. In Japan, reigning emperors are known simply as "the Emperor" and he is now referred to primarily by his posthumous name, Shōwa (昭和), which is the name of the era coinciding with his reign; for this reason, he is also known as the "Shōwa Emperor" or "Emperor Shōwa."

At the start of his reign, Japan was already one of the great powers—the ninth-largest economy in the world, the third-largest naval power, and one of the four permanent members of the council of the League of Nations. He was the head of state under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan during Japan's imperial expansion, militarization, and involvement in World War II. After Japan's surrender, he was not prosecuted for war crimes as many other leading government figures were, and his degree of involvement in wartime decisions remains controversial. During the post-war period, he became the symbol of the new state under the post-war constitution and Japan's recovery, and by the end of his reign, Japan had emerged as the world's second largest economy.

Obverse	Tree, flower, plant etc. Paulownia Depicts Paulownia plant and highlighted legends (authority on top and value below). Paulownia is a genus of six to 17 species of flowering plants and long cultivated in Japan. The genus, originally Pavlovnia but now usually spelled Paulownia, was named in honour of Anna Paulowna, queen consort of The Netherlands (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia. Paulownia is known in Japanese as kiri; it is also known as the "princess tree". It was once customary to plant a Paulownia tree when a baby girl was born, and then to make it into a dresser as a wedding present when she married. Paulownia is the mon of the office of prime minister and also serves as the emblem of the cabinet and the government (vis-à-vis the chrysanthemum being the Imperial Seal of Japan). 日本国五百円
Reverse	Tree, flower, plant etc. Mandarin orange, Bamboo Depicts bamboo leaves on top and bottom, Mandarin orange on either side of the value. The year of issue in Kanji below the value. Value with latent zeros. Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana and katakana. The date begins with the symbols for the era name Shōwa (昭和), followed by the era year, and ends with the symbol for year (年). 500 昭和五十九年
Edge	Inscribed (lettered) Inscription: Japan ◆ 500 ◆ Japan ◆ 500 ◆ The Japanese word for Japan is pronounced Nihon or Nippon. ＮＩＰＰＯＮ ◆ ５００ ◆ ＮＩＰＰＯＮ ◆ ５００ ◆