200 yen note

Two hundred yen banknotes were first authorized by law on June 27, 1882 with Article 14 of the Bank of Japan.[1] For one reason or another no notes were issued, and the U.S. Government Printing Office added a footnote as late as 1901 stating: "none have ever been issued".[2] The first two hundred yen bills were eventually printed in response to the Shōwa financial crisis of 1927.[3][4] The Bank of Japan needed bills to be exchanged with other banks, and decided to issue new 200 yen bills in a hurry to insure against bank runs.[5][6] With banks in the country all temporarily closed, the printing office took the opportunity to manufacture the new bills. The normal printing process could not be carried out as it took too long to print both sides of the note. To remedy this problem just one side received a simple design. These one sided bills were given the nickname "Urashiro" or "back white" notes.[5][7] Although the backs of the new notes were blank, the Bank of Japan vice president confidently stated that: "although it looks somewhat flimsy, it has the Bank of Japan watermark so there is no fear that it is counterfeit".[5] Despite his sentiment some of the notes were rejected as possible fakes due to their rough printing on the side that had features. Although 106,000 yen's worth of the 200 yen bill were reported to be in circulation at the end of 1927, by 1929 these notes were described as "almost nonexistent".[8]

Notes of the second series were announced by the Ministry of Finance in 1927, and were printed the same year in two different varieties. All of these notes are called "Uraaka" due to the red pattern featured on the reverse side, while the obverse side features Legendary Japanese hero-statesman Takenouchi no Sukune.[7] A majority of the second series banknotes were held back in vaults until the end of World War II.[9] The first variety has a black on green underprint on the obverse, the word "SPECIMAN" is written in red script on the reverse. Second variety notes can be differentiated by a pale blue underprint on the obverse, these notes also feature a different color and shape of the central guilloche.[10][11] There is no mention of the word "SPECIMAN" on the reverse which has a slightly different red back pattern.[7] There is a message on the obverse side of both varieties that mentions the note as "Bond convertible". By the time the second series was finally issued on August 16, 1945 this message had become dated as the system of converting banknotes into gold coins had been suspended in 1942.[1][12]

Series three notes feature Fujiwara no Kamatari on the obverse next to Danzan Shrine, the reverse designs are printed in blue ink which include another shrine view.[13][14] These notes were originally part of an overall banknote redesign which took place in 1930, like the previous series these were also issued after World War II had ended. This last series saw light circulation due to the purchasing power the note had at the time.[15] These last two series were short lived issues as they would both expire within a year as Japan's monetary system changed. On March 2, 1946 a new law was passed which demonetized all of Japan's old currency, stripping all 200 yen notes of their legal tender status.[16][17][lower-alpha 1]

Notes printed in 1927 for the first series are very rare today as very few were issued. Specimen banknotes are among the few examples available for collectors to obtain, with prices ranging from $19,550 (USD) in "about uncirculated" condition, to $33,600 (USD) for a "gem" example.[6] Two hundred yen notes of the second series have two different varieties, and first variety notes are considered to be extremely rare.[10] The second variety had a print run of 7.5 million notes which were stocked in the vaults, making them more available to collectors. These notes have been sold at auction in the hundreds of dollars to the low thousands depending on condition.[18] Series three notes are also more available to collectors selling in the hundreds of dollars.

The announcement of redesigned "Series F" banknotes for release in 2024 inspired a Japanese artist to create 200 yen bank notes using a kitten theme.[19][20]

• Banknotes of the Japanese yen
• 2000 yen note