Japanese military currency (1894–1918)
The military currency issued during these events circulated in Japanese Korea, the Republic of China (Manchuria), and the Russian State.
It was also routine after each event for officials to exchange the military currency issued for bullion or other forms of payment such as banknotes.
Seeing Russia as a rival, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea being within the Japanese sphere of influence.
Japan officially issued a declaration of war on February 8, 1904, and attacked the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur.
Places of redemption were set up across Manchuria as the alloy could not be feasibly carried by the troops making local payments.
[12] As Russo-Japanese War military bonds were not permitted to circulate in Japan, they "obtained wide currency" in Korea and Manchuria.
[18] Most of these notes were redeemed by 1922 (year 11 of Taishō) as the Japanese government replaced them with Yokohama Specie Bank issued civilian currency.
[18] The final military currency issued before the Shōwa era is referred to as Siberian Intervention Warbonds (シベリア出兵軍票).
Gold backed banknotes issued by the Russian government were widely accepted in Siberia and Manchuria before the start of World War I.
[21] When the October Revolution caused the Russian monetary system to become chaotic the Japanese looked for ways to exploit the situation by releasing their own currency in the regions.
[23] The face value of these notes is written twice in both Japanese and Russian on the obverse side to reflect issuance in the regions involved.
[24] These notes circulated for a long duration as the Imperial Japanese Army continued to occupy Siberia even after other Allied forces withdrew in 1920.
[23][24] The value of any given banknote is determined by survivability rate and condition as collectors in general prefer original notes with bright rich coloring.
The oldest military currency issued during the post-Imperial restoration era include Sino-Japanese Warbonds which had a very short lifespan.
[10] Russo-Japanese War military bonds continued to circulate long after being collected until at least 1919 with people keeping them as victory commemorates.
[6] During World War I Japan issued two different series of military currency for events in China and Siberia.
[27] This series follows the pattern of the lowest denominations being the easiest to obtain, as they are valued in the tens to hundreds of thousands of yen.
