The reverse side contained an image of the "Yumedono" (literally Hall of Dreams) in the grounds of Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple located in Nara Prefecture.

The obverse side contained a portrait of Itō Hirobumi, who, under Emperor Meiji, was the first Prime Minister of Japan, assuming office in 1885.

The series C note was released with the bank number[clarification needed] in two different colours: black (from 1963) and blue (from 1976).

The obverse side contained a portrait of the Meiji period novelist Natsume Sōseki, whose famous works include I Am a Cat and Kokoro.

The series D note was released with the bank number in four different colours: black (from 1984), blue (from 1990), brown (from 1993) and green (from 2000).

The front side shows a portrait of Hideyo Noguchi, who in 1911 discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease.