Emperor's Accession Commemorative 500-Yen Cupronickel Coin (Heisei 2, 1990) | Design and Specifications

On 7 January 1989 (Shōwa 64), on the death of Emperor Shōwa, Crown Prince Akihito (now the Emperor Emeritus) succeeded to the throne. The Enthronement Ceremony, at which the accession was proclaimed at home and abroad, was held at the Imperial Palace on 12 November 1990 (Heisei 2); according to the Imperial Household Agency's record, some 2,200 people attended, including heads of state and congratulatory envoys from 158 countries.

The ceremony was followed by the celebratory procession (Shukuga Onretsu no Gi), which the Imperial Household Agency describes as a procession to present the accession widely to the people and receive their congratulations. About 117,000 people lined the route from the Palace to the Akasaka Residence. Both the ceremony and the procession were conducted as acts in matters of state.

Exchange of this 500-yen cupronickel coin began on 8 November 1990, 4 days before the ceremony.

The obverse shows the Special Imperial Procession Carriage. The Ministry of Finance's List of Commemorative Coins describes it as "an Imperial carriage used for parades and other occasions".

The reverse shows the chrysanthemum crest and a pattern from sokutai, the formal court dress. According to the list, the chrysanthemum is the crest of the Imperial Family, and paulownia and bamboo are drawn from the sokutai pattern. On sokutai, the Deputy Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency explained in the Diet in 1990 that it is a ceremonial dress that took its final form in the Heian period.

The phoenix appears on the 100,000-yen gold coin for the same occasion, whose obverse is "a phoenix and auspicious clouds".

The Director-General of the Ministry of Finance's Financial Bureau explained in the Diet in 1990 that commemorative coins are coins issued as national commemorative projects after a Cabinet decision. He also said there was no fixed criterion set in advance for deciding whether to issue one.

The 100,000-yen gold coin for the same occasion was issued under a special law because it exceeded the face-value limit for commemorative coins (10,000 yen). The Director-General answered, on the other hand, that the 500-yen cupronickel coin was not covered by that law and would be issued under the ordinary law on coins. Its material, weight and mintage are set out in the Order for Enforcement of the Act on Currency Units and Issuance of Coins, and the mintage is 30,000,000.

On the mintage, the Director-General said that Japan's commemorative coins had been issued in large numbers so that they would reach many people, but that the numbers were one or two digits larger than in other countries, and that the figure had therefore been reduced from 50,000,000 for the Shōwa 60th year to 30,000,000.

The Emperor Emeritus abdicated on 30 April 2019 (Heisei 31), and the present Emperor acceded to the throne on 1 May 2019 (Reiwa 1). The Reiwa Enthronement Ceremony was held on 22 October 2019, and commemorative coins were issued on that occasion too.

The Reiwa 500-yen coin shows the Takamikura throne on the obverse and the chrysanthemum crest with azusa and Japanese rose (hamanasu) on the reverse. Its material is listed as "nickel-brass, cupronickel and copper"; it is 26.5 mm in diameter, weighs 7.1 g, and 5,000,000 were issued, with exchange from 18 October 2019. It differs from the Heisei 500-yen cupronickel coin in size, material and number.

Among the gold coins, the obverse of both the Heisei 100,000-yen coin and the Reiwa 10,000-yen coin is "a phoenix and auspicious clouds".