5 Yen Coin

Those 1 and 5 yen coins can easily accumulate over time. While you could use them at a convenience store or cash them in at a bank, this takes considerable time to count manually. Plus, you have to face the look on the cashier’s face when you present them with over 600 1 yen coins. Coin value - $1. 5 yen 1950 (1949-1958) brass Diameter 22.0 mm. Circulation coinage, old script 5 YEN / stalk of rice GREAT JAPAN (NIPPON GINKO) / two leafs / SHŌWA 25 YEAR Y#72 Coin value - $1. 5 yen 1967 (1959-1989) brass Diameter 22.0 mm. Circulation coinage, new script 5 YEN / stalk of rice.

• The production of the 1874 design silver one yen coin lasted until 1914, after which no further silver one yen coins were produced. The Japanese government also minted smaller 10, 20, and 50 sen coins (100 sen = 1 yen) in various issues in.800 and.720 fine silver from 1873 onwards.
• But the 5 Yen coin actually holds a special place among the different coins of the japanese currency. Though it is not the only coin with a hole in it (the 50 Yen coin does have one as well), it’s the only one without arabic numerals. The japanese word for 5 is “go” and the word Yen is pronounced “en”, which makes the pronunciation.
• The 5 yen coin, known in Japanese as 5円硬貨 (Go-enkoka), is one denomination of Japanese yen. The current design was first minted in 1959 using Japanese characters known as the 'new script', and were also minted from 1949-1958 using 'old-script' Japanese characters.

The 5 yen coin(五円硬貨Go-en kōka^?) is one denomination of Japaneseyen. The current design was first minted in 1959 using Japanese characters known as the 'new script', and were also minted from 1949-1958 using 'old-script' Japanese characters. Five-yen coins date to 1870 (when, due to the much higher value of the yen, they were minted in gold). The modern-day coin was first produced in 1949 with a different styled inscription. This was changed in 1959 and the design has remained unchanged since.

The front of the coin depicts a rice plant growing out of the water, with 'five yen' written in kanji; the back is stamped with 'Japan' and the year of issue, also in kanji, separated by sprouts of a tree. The three graphic elements of the coin represent agriculture and fisheries, the key elements of the Japanese first-sector economy. Around a hole, there is a gear that represents industry. It is the only Japanese coin in circulation to lack Arabic numerals on either face.

Cultural significance

The Japanese for 'five yen,' go en (五円) is a homophone with go-en (御縁), 'en' being a word for causal connection or relationship, and 'go' being a respectful prefix. As a result, five-yen coins are commonly given as donations at Shintoshrines with the intention of establishing a good connection with the deity of the shrine, and is widely believed it is best to insert a single five-yen coin into a new wallet before inserting any other money.

Use in nuclear accident investigation

Following the nuclear accident at Tokai, Ibaraki in 1999, physicistsMasuchika Kohno and Yoshinobu Koizumi showed how this coin could be used to estimate neutron dosage to the surrounding population, by measuring its zincisotope ratios. They write:

The Japanese 5-yen coin is about 22 millimeters in diameter and 1.5 mm thick, weighs 3.75 grams and has a central hole 5 mm wide. We chose this coin for monitoring neutron exposure because it is widely circulated, the zinc content is precisely controlled, and the generated has a convenient half-life (244.1 days) and gamma ray energy emission (1,115.5 keV). To obtain a record of the dosage of neutrons released as a result of the accident, we collected exposed coins from people's houses at distances 100–550 m from the facility.^[1]

They concluded that the coin could offer information about the total neutron effect during the accident, and about shielding by modern Japanese houses, given that the coins were recovered from indoors.

References

1. ↑Kohno, Masuchika; and Yoshinobu Koizumi (2000). 'Tokaimura accident: Neutron dose estimates from 5-yen coins'. Nature. 406 (6797): 693. doi:10.1038/35021138. PMID10963586.<templatestyles src='Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css'></templatestyles>

~ A minor diety, Yato, charges people to 'grant their wish', with the help of his shinki, Yukine, and a firm believer of Yatoism, Hiyori.

External links

• The front sides of two five yen coins.

When visiting a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple in Japan, it’s customary to toss some coins into an offering box that’s positioned in front of the altar before saying a short prayer. If you ask most Japanese people, they’ll tell you that the best offering to make is one of just five yen.

This isn’t because of any societal value of humility or enlightened detachment from material possessions, however. It’s because the way you say “five yen” in Japanese, go en, sounds just like goen, the Japanese word for “auspicious connection” or “good fortune.”

Since most of the prayers said at places of worship in Japan contain some sort of wish for divine help finding romance, passing school entrance exams, achieving economic success, or maintaining physical health, the logic is that offering five yen will give you a little push from the gods towards your ambitions. There are also some alternative lines of thinking, which recommend offering:

● 25 yen (nijugo en: Sounds like niju goen, “doubly good fortune.”

● 45 yen (shijugo en): Sounds like shiju goen, “constant good fortune”

● 500 yen: The largest coin (kouka in Japanese), which presumably should also have the largest effect (also kouka)

But while you’ll hear that these are numerological keys to a happy future from lots of people in Japan, you won’t hear that from the priests at Izumo Taisha.

▼ Izumo Taisha

Izumo Taisha is widely considered the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan, plus is the site where Japan’s millions of gods are said to gather each fall. Despite a history that stretches back over a thousand years, though, Izumo Taisha is also modern enough to have an official website, and listed in its FAQ question you’ll find:

Q: Is there a certain amount of money visitors are supposed to offer?

A: We sometimes hear tour guides say that offering five yen ensures good fortune, or that you should offer 25, 45, or 500 yen [for the reasons discussed above], in order to make a fun or funny story. This has no spiritual basis whatsoever, and their advice is nothing more than puns for entertainment.

Japan 5 Yen Coin

What is important is to convey your sincere thoughts and feelings to the gods through your prayer, and to hold on to those feelings in your daily life. A heart filled with prayer is not one to be controlled by amounts of money or strange wordplay.

So there you have it: Izumo Taisha itself says that the amount of money you offer is the least important part of your visit to the shrine, in a distant third beyond piety and a genuine commitment to being a good person.

That said, Japan has long had something of a playful attitude about religion, with secular reasons for visiting shrines and temples, such as an interest in history, architecture, and local cuisine being as big of a draw for modern travelers as spiritual concerns. Since, as Izumo Taisha says, there’s no set amount you’re supposed to give, there’s nothing wrong with tossing a five-yen coin into the collection box if it puts a smile on your face, a spring in your step, and a new Japanese vocabulary word in your head. Just don’t expect that specific donation to act as a cheat code that unlocks all of life’s hidden bonuses to your luck stat.

Source: Izumo Taisha official website via Twitter/@hen_manner via Jin

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-- Izumo’s Starbucks, a stone’s throw away from the gathering place of Shinto’s eight million gods

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-- Does Japan’s five-yen coin need a foreigner-friendly redesign?

100 Yen Coin Value

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5 Yen Coin