The Japan Mint announces the winners of its International Design Competition for 2016 For the past few years, the Japan Mint has been hosting an International Coin Design Competition in which designers, both current and budding, are encouraged to enter their coin designs to win an award. There are two categories, a general one and a student one. The general category is by far the toughest as one of the primary [...]
A four-coin series that debuted last August and finished this April, we're rectifying our lack of coverage to date with some details of the whole of this unusual and interesting set of coins. Entitled the "Great East Japan Earthquake Reconstruction Project", the Japan Mint has done a fine job with these. They were launched in four waves, each comprising a 1 oz coloured silver, and a ½ oz cleanly struck gold [...]
One of the first series of coins we did one of our exhaustive Coin Series Profiles on, the Japan Mints excellent 47 Prefectures coins have always offered an intriguing look at a country many in the West know comparitively little of. As the name suggest, this is a series of 47 coloured silver coins, each depicting one of the regions that make up the nation of Japan. Each of the coins takes iconic locations, [...]
Nagasaki is the latest coin in the Japan Mints epic 47 Prefectures series. Each coin celebrates one of the 47 regions of Japan with imagery that is most associated with it. Available in a single coin set or as a deluxe set with five stamps, just 10% of the admittedly quite hefty 100,000 mintage is available outside of Japan. There have been some really nice coins in this series and it was actually one [...]
The flagship series of the Japan Mint, ’47 Prefectures’ is a range of forty seven coloured silver coins, each of which showcases a specific district in the country. Each coin depicts iconic characteristics of the prefecture in question, usually flora, fauna, a historical event or a natural landmark. With 40 coins having been released to date, there are only 7 left to come and we've already revealed the next one, Fukuoka, in a previous [...]
The flagship series of the Japan Mint, '47 Prefectures' is a range of forty seven coloured silver coins, each of which showcases a specific district in the country. Each coin depicts iconic characteristics of the prefecture in question, usually flora, fauna, a historical event or a natural landmark. With 38 coins having been released to date, we're a long way into the series and as a result, 2015 is the penultimate year before it [...]
It's time for a new coin celebrating relationships between two countries and the latest commemoration is for 60 years of diplomatic ones between South-East Asian countries, Laos and Japan. Back in 2010 the two states signed up to a 'comprehensive partnership'. Just a couple of weeks ago, that was upgraded to a 'strategic partnership' signalling Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe's determination to engage more with his neighbours in the region, especially in light of some [...]
An attractive and comprehensive set covering all 47 Prefectures that make up Japan. Each 31.1g, 0.999 silver coin showcases a scene representing something that the district is renowned for and they’ve been a very successful series to date. Started back in 2008, the series has rounded out its releases for 2014 with the 38th Prefecture. It's likely the final nine coins may be released through 2015, making that the busiest year for the [...]
A very cool set covering all 47 Prefectures that make up Japan. Each 31.1g, 0.999 silver coin showcases a scene representing something that the district is renowned for and they've been a very successful series to date. Started back in 2008, there have been thirty-five releases to mid-2014, and these next three take us through to the end of the year. Rather than regurgitate information posted elsewhere, head on over to our Japans [...]
Starting in 1964 with the Tokaido Shinkansen, Japans network of high-speed 'Bullet Trains' is world famous and the envy of much of the world. Japan was the first country to build a railway system dedicated to high speed, primarily because its existing network was of a narrow gauge, being only 42" (1.1m) wide and weaved in and out of Japans mountainous terrain, so wasn't straight enough to support the required velocities. While the name [...]
