Five yen coins were first struck in gold for the Japanese government in 1870 at the San Francisco Mint.

[2] During this time a new mint was being established at Osaka, which did not receive the gold bullion needed for coinage until the following year.

[3] The yen as a unit of currency was officially adopted by the Meiji government in an act signed on June 27, 1871.

[8] Five yen coins continued to be struck uninterrupted until 1879, when for an unknown reason none were recorded as minted.

[10][11] During the Taishō era the production of five yen coins was impacted by World War I as a gold embargo was imposed in 1917 by the United States.

Government officials at the time had the opinion that no inflation could take place so long as the percentage of gold cover had not been lowered.

[16][17] Using this type of alloy combination is now a remnant from when World War II era weapons were scrapped to produce the coins.

[18] These coins feature a pigeon within a circle on one side and the National Diet on the other and were only minted for two years.

[16] The Japanese government added the hole in the center of the coin to save material costs.

[19] The overall design of the coin featuring rice, water and a gear on the obverse, and tree sprouts on the reverse has not changed since this time.

Physicists Masuchika Kohno and Yoshinobu Koizumi showed how the coin could be used to estimate neutron dosage to the surrounding population, by measuring its zinc isotope ratios.

[21][22] Mintage figures recovered in 2014 as general production resumed until 2022, when 5 yen coins were again confined to mint sets.

According to a priest at Chichibu Shrine, harvested rice was historically given as Shinto deities do not like cash itself as tribute.

[26] These gifts are traditionally given to children in decorated envelopes called "Otoshidama" (年玉), with the total amount of money included depending on age.