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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;satootoko, post: 9584, member: 669&quot;]Reading from right to left the first three Kanji (Japanese name for Chinese characters) read &quot;Dai Ni Hon&quot; which translates as &quot;Great Japan&quot;.&nbsp; The next two are &quot;Meiji&quot;, the era name chosen by Emperor Mutsuhito for his reign, which marked the beginnings of modern Japan when the Imperial Family regained sovereignty from the Shoguns (Warlords).&nbsp; Next is &quot;ku&quot; or &quot;kyu&quot;, the number 9, and finally &quot;nen&quot; or year.&nbsp; In full the date is &quot;Meiji 9 year&quot;, which corresponds to 1876 on the western calendar.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m sorry to say that I don&#039;t really know the formal significance.&nbsp; It does represent strength, and I am sure there is a symbolism to the pearl in it&#039;s claws, but I haven&#039;t a clue as to what that is.<img src="http://sc.communities.msn.com/themes/pby/img/emoticons/emembarrassed.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>The contemporary value was 20¢, as the silver yen had the same composition as a U.S. dollar, and there were 100 sen to the yen.&nbsp; The sen was abolished as a circulating denomination during the American occupation, in 1946, by which time it had become essentially valueless.&nbsp; The official exchange rate was ¥360 = $1, and the purchasing power of ¥1 for local goods and services was roughly equivalent to the purchasing power of 1¢ in the States.&nbsp; Example:&nbsp; When haircuts in the PX barbershops in Japan were 25¢, haircuts in a Japanese barbershop were ¥25.&nbsp; For another nickle (or ¥5) you could get your shoes shined too.&nbsp; Of course by the mid-late &#039;50s those prices had gone up a few cents/yen <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> and today at ~¥112 to the dollar, life on the Japanese economy can be very expensive indeed. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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