Country / Region: Japan
Continent: Asia
Denomination: 1,000 Yen
Year: 1963
Grade: Fine+
Face Value (as at 2012.06.17): about USD12.70
Pick: 96
Figure (Obverse): Itō Hirobumi
Figure (Reverse): The headquarters of Nippon Ginkō

Story: Probably the very first note that got me on this journey. My father used to work in a multi-national firm where he often had to go to Japan for short-term business trips. I remembered one time when my mother and I visited him in Tokyo, and a Kitazawa-san treated our family to dinner. Til now, the wagyu beef that night remained the best wagyu I had ever tasted :)

When my father returned from one of his numerous business trips, some time when I was four, he brought this note home, and somehow it ended up in my possession :) As you can see from the scan, the condition is nowhere near perfect, with brown stains on top and several folds on both sides. But this is and would always be a banknote that I will never give away.

By the way, Happy Father’s Day.

Interesting Fact: Hirobumi is the 1^st Prime Minister of Japan. He was one of the five長州五傑 (Chōshū Goketsu), chosen ones who studied in England from 1863 at University College London. It was illegal to leave Japan then as sakoku (鎖國) was still in place. As the story goes, Mr. Weigal, a manager of Jardine Matheson in Yokohama, disguised the young men as English sailors and brought them aboard on a vessel to Shanghai, where they were sheltered on an opium storage ship before dividing into two groups for the long voyage to London.

Supposedly, the captain of the first vessel took the boys onboard at 1,000 ryō (両) each. Exactly 100 years later, Hirobumi showed up on the national 1,000 yen banknote.